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CONTENTS
or
VOLUME THE FIRST.
Page
The Life of Robin Hood v
Notes and illustrations . xviii
PART THE FIRST.
1. A lytell geste of Robyn Ilode 1 <
2. Rohyii Ilode and tlie potter 81 '
3. Robin Ilood and the beggar 97
4. Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne 114 ^
5. A true tale of Robin Hood 126
si
THE
LIFE OF ROBIN HOOD.
It will scarcely be expected that one should be able
to offer an authentic narrative of the life and trans-
actions of this extraordinary personage. The times
in which he lived, the mode of life he adopted, and
the silence or loss of contemporary writers, are
circumstances sufficiently favourable, indeed, to ro-
mance, but altogether inimical to historical truth.
The reader must, therefore, be contented with such
a detail, however scanty or imperfect, as a zealous
pursuit of the subject enables one to give ; and which,
though it may fail to satisfy, may possibly serve to
amuse.
No assistance has been derived from the labours
of his professed biographers (a) ; and even the in-
dustrious sir John Hawkins, from whom the public
might have expected ample gratification upon the
subject, acknowledges that " the history of this
popular hero is but little known, and all the scattered
fragments concerning him, could they be brought
together, would fall far short of satisfying such an
VOL. I. b
VI THE LIFE OF
enquirer as none but real and authenticated facts
will content. We must," he says, " take his story
as we find it." He accordingly gives us nothing
but two or three trite and trivial extracts, with which
every one, at all curious about the subject, was as
well acquainted as himself. It is not, at the same
time, pretended, that the present attempt promises
more than to bring together the scattered fragments
to which the learned historian alludes. This, how-
ever, has been done, according to the best of the
compilers information and abilities ; and the result
is, with a due sense of the deficiency of both, sub-
mitted to the readers candour.
Robin Hood was born at Locksley, in the county
of Nottingham, (A) in the reign of king Henry the
second, and about the year of Christ 1160 (B).
His extraction was noble, and his true name Robert
FiTzooTii, which vulgar pronunciation easily cor-
rupted into Robin Hood (C). He is frequently
stiled, and commonly reputed to have been Eari,
OF Huntingdon ; a title to which, in the latter
])art of his life, at least, he actually appears to have
had some sort of pretension (D). In his youth he
is reported to have been of a wild and extravagant
disposition ; insomuch that, his inheritance being
consumed or forfeited by his excesses, and his person
outlawed for debt, either from necessity or choice,
he sought an asylum in the woods and forests, with
ROBIN HOOD. VII
whicli immense tracts, especially in the northern
parts of the kingdom, were at that time covered (E).
Of these he chiefly affected Barnsdale, in Yorkshire,
Sherwood, in Nottinghamshire, and, according to
some, Plompton-park, in Cumberland (F). Here
he either found, or was afterward joined by, a
number of persons in similar circumstances ;
" Such as the fury of ungovem'd youth
Thrust from the company of awful men :" (* F)
who appear to have considered and obeyed him as
their chief or leader, and of whom his principal
favourites, or those in whose courage and fidelity
he most confided, were Little John, (whose surname
is said to have been Nailor,) William Scadlock
(Scathelock or Scarlet), George a Green, pinder (or
pound-keeper) of Wakefield, Much, a millers son,
and a certain monk or frier named Tuck (G). He
is likewise said to have been accompanied in his re-
treat by a female, of whom he was enamoured, and
whose real or adopted name was Marian (H).
His company, in process of time, consisted of a
hundred archers ; men, says Major, most skilful in
battle, whom four times that number of the boldest
fellows durst not attack (I). His manner of recruit-
ing was somewhat singular ; for, in the words of an
old writer, " whersoever he hard of any that were of
unusual strength and ' hardines,' he would desgyse
himselfe, and, rather then fayle, go lyke a begger to
Vlir TIIF, LIFE OK
become acqiiaynted with them; and, after he had
tryed them with fyghting ; never give them over
tyl he had used means to drawe [them] to lyve after
his fashion" (J) : a practice of which numerous in-
stances are recorded in the more common and
popular songs, where, indeed, he seldom fails to
receive a sound beating. In shooting with the long
bow, which they chiefly practised, " they excelled
all the men of the land ; though, as occasion re-
quired, they had also other weapons" (K).
In these forests, and with this company, he for
many years reigned like an independant sovereign ;
at perpetual war, indeed, with the king of England,
and all his subjects, with an exception, however, of
the poor and needy, and such as were " desolate
and oppressed," or stood in need of his protection.
When molested, by a superior force, in one place,
he retired to another, still defying the power of what
was called law and government, and making his
enemies pay dearly, as well for their open attacks,
as for their clandestine treachery. It is not, at the
same time, to be concluded that he must, in this
opposition, have been guilty of manifest treason or
rebellion ; as he most certainly can be justly charged
with neither. An outlaw, in those times, being de-
prived of protection, owed no allegiance; "his
hand ' was' against every man, and every mans
hand against him" (L). These forests, in short,
were his territories ; those who accompanied and
adhered to him his subjects :
ROBIN HOOD. ix
The world was not his friend, nor the worlds law :
and what better title king Richard could pretend to
tlie territory and people of England than Robin
Hood had to the dominion of Barnsdale or Sherwood
is a question humbly submitted to the consideration
of the political philosophei'.
The deer with which the royal forests then abounded
(every Norman tyrant being, like Nimrod, " a mighty
hunter before the lord ") would afford our hero and
his companions an ample supply of food throughout
the year; and of fuel, for dressing their venison, or
for the other purposes of life, they could evidently
be in no want. The rest of their necessaries would
be easily procured, partly by taking what they had
occasion for from the wealthy passenger, who tra-
versed or approached their territories, and partly by
commerce with the neighbouring villages or great
towns.
It maybe readily imagined that such a life, during
great part of the year, at least, and while it continued
free from the alarms or apprehensions to which our
foresters, one would suppose, must have been too
frequently subject, might be sufficiently pleasant
and desirable, and even deserve the compliment
which is paid to it by Shakespeare, in his comedy of
As you like it, (Act i. scene i.) where, on Olivers
asking, " where will the old duke live V Charles
answers, " They say he is already in the forest of
X TUK LIFE Ol
Arden, and a many merry men with him ; and there
they live like the old Robin Hood of England ;
. . . and fleet the time carelessly as they did in the
golden world." Their gallant chief, indeed, may be
presumed to have frequently exclaimed with the
banished Valentine, in another play of the same
author : *
" How use doth breed a habit in a man !
This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods,
I better brook than flourishing peopled towns :
Here can I sit alone, unseen of any,
And, to the nightingales complaining notes,
Tune my distresses, and record my woes."
He would, doubtless, too often find occasion to add:
" What hallooing and what stir is this to-day 1
These are my mates, that make their wills their law.
Have some unhappy passenger in chace :
They love me well ; j-et 1 have much to do,
To keep them from uncivil outrages."
But, on the other hand, it will be at once difficult
and painful to conceive,
-When they did hear
The rain and wind beat dark December, how.
In that their pinching cave, they could discourse
The freezing ho\irs away ! (M)
Their mode of life, in short, and domestic oeconomy,
of which no authentic particulars have been even
* Two Gentlemen of Verona, act 5. scene 1.
UOBIN HOOD. XI
traditionally preserved, are more easily to be guessed
at than described. They have, nevertheless, been
elegantly sketched by the animating pencil of an
excellent, though neglected poet.
" The merry pranks he play'd, would ask an age to tell,
And the adventures strange that Robin Hood befell.
When Mansfield many a time for Robin hath been laid,
How he hath cousen'd them, that him would have betray'd ;
How often he hath come to Nottingham disguis'd,
And cunningly escap'd, being set to be surpriz'd.
In this our spacious isle, I think there is not one,
But he hath heard some talk of him and little John ;
And to the end of time, the tales shall ne'er be done.
Of Scarlock, George a Green, and Much the miller's son.
Of Tuck the merry friar, which many a sermon made
In praise of Robin Hood, his out-laws, and their trade.
An hundred valiant men had tliis brave Robin Hood,
Still ready at his call, that bow-men were right good.
All clad in Lincoln green, (N) with caps of red and blue.
His fellow's winded horn not one of them but knew.
When setting to their lips their little beugles shrill.
The warbling ecchos wak'd from every dale and hill.
Their bauldricks set with studs, athwart their shoulders cast.
To which under their arms their sheafs were buckled fast,
A short sword at their belt, a buckler scarce a span,
Who struck below the knee, not counted then a man :
All made of Spanish yew, their bows were wondrous strong ;
They not an arrow drew, but was a cloth-yard long.
Of archery they had the very perfect craft.
With broad-arrow, or but, or prick, or roving shaft.
At marks full forty score, they us'd to prick, and rove.
Yet higher than the breast, for compass never strove ;
Yet at the farthest mark a foot could hardly win :
XII TIIF, LUl. OF
At long-outs, short, and lioyles, each one could cleave the pin :
Their arrows fine!}' pair'd, for timber, and for feather.
With birch and brazil piec'd to fly in any weather ;
And shot they with the round, the square, or forked pile,
The loose gave such a twang, as might be heard a mile.
And of these archers brave, there was not any one.
But he could kill a deer his swiftest speed upon.
Which they did boil and roast, in many a mighty wood.
Sharp hunger the fine sauce to their more kingly food.
Then taking them to rest, his merry men and he
Slept many a summer's night under the greenwood tree.
From wealthy abbots chests, and churls abundant store.
What oftentimes he took, he shar'd amongst the poor :
No lordly bishop came in lusty Robin's way.
To him before he went, but for his pass must pay;
The widow in distress he giaciously reliev'd.
And remedied the wrongs of many a virgin griev'd : (O)
He from the husband's bed no married woman wan.
But to his mistress dear, his loved Marian,
Wcis ever constant known, which wheresoe'er she came.
Was sovereign of the woods ; chief lady of the game :
Her clothes tuck'd to the knee, and dainty braided hair,
With bow and quiver arm'd, she wander'd here and there,
Amongst the forests wild ; Diana never knew
Such pleasures, nor such harts as Mariana slew."*
That our hero and his companions, while they
lived in the woods, had recourse to robbery for their
better support is neither to be concealed nor to be
denied. Testimonies to this purpose, indeed, would
be equally endless and unnecessary. Fordun, in
the fourteenth century, calls him, '^ ille famosissimus
siccarius" that most celebrated robber, and Major
* Drayton's Polyolbion, song xxvi.
ROBIN HOOD. XIU
terms him and Little John, '^ famatisshni latrones."
But it is to be remembered, according to the con-
fession of the latter historian, that, in these exertions
of power, he took away the goods of rich men only ;
never killing any person, unless he was attacked or
resisted : that he would not suffer a woman to be
maltreated ; nor ever took any thing from the poor,
but charitably fed them with the wealth he drew
from the abbots. I disapprove, says he, of the rapine
of the man : but he was the most humane and the
prince of all robbers (* O). In allusion, no doubt,
to this irregular and predatory course of life, he has
had the honour to be compared to the illustrious
Wallace, the champion and deliverer of his country;
and that, it is not a little remarkable, in the latters ^^
own time (P).
Our hero, indeed, seems to have held bishops,
abbots, priests, and monks, in a word, all the clergy,
regular or secular, in decided aversion.
" These byshoppes and thyse archebyshoppes,
Ye shall them bete and byude,"
was an injunction carefully impressed upon his fol-
lowers. The abbot of Saint Marys, in York, (Q)
from some unknown cause, appears to have been
distinguished by particular animosity ; and the sheriff
of Nottinghamshire, (R) who may have been too
active and officious in his endeavours to apprehend
him, was the unremitted object of his vengeance.
Notwithstanding, however, the aversion in which
XIV Tin: LIFE or
he appears to have held the clergy of every denomi-
nation, he was a man of exemplary piety, according
to the notions of that age, and retained a domestic
chaplain (frier Tuck no doubt) for the diurnal cele-
j/ bration of the divine mysteries. This we learn from
an anecdote preserved by Fordun, (S) as an instance
of those actions which the historian allows to deserve
commendation. One day, as he heard mass, which
he was most devoutly accustomed to do, (nor would
he, in whatever necessity, suffer the office to be in-
terrupted,) he was espied by a certain sheriff and
officers belonging to the king, who had frequently
before molested him, in that most secret recess of
the wood where he was at mass. Some of his people,
who perceived what was going forward, advised him
to fly with all speed, which, out of reverence to the
sacrament, which he was then most devoutly wor-
shiping, he absolutely refused to do. But the rest
of his men having fled for fear of death, Robin,
confiding solely in him whom he reverently worshiped,
with a very few, who by chance were present, set
upon his enemies, whom he easily vanquished ; and,
being enriched with their spoils and ransom, he
always held the ministers of the church and masses
in greater veneration ever after, mindful of what is
vulgarly said :
Him god does surely hear
Who oft to til' mass gives ear.
Having, for a long series of years, maintained a
IIOBIX HOOD. XV
sort of independent sovereignty, and set kings, judges,
and magistrates at defiance, a proclamation was
published, (T) offering a considerable reward for
bringing him in either dead or alive ; which, how-
ever, seems to have been productive of no greater
success than former attempts for that purpose. At
length, the infirmities of old age increasing upon
him, (U) and desirous to be relieved, in a fit of sick-
ness, by being let blood, he applied for that purpose
to the prioress of Kirkleys-nunnery in Yorkshire, his
relation, (women, and particularly religious women,
being, in those times, somewhat better skilled in
surgery than the sex is at present,) by whom he was
treacherously suffered to bleed to death. This event
happened on the 18th of November, 1247, being the
31st year of king Henry III. and (if the date assigned
to his birth be correct) about the 87th of his age(U).
He was interred under some trees, at a short distance
from the house; a stone being placed over his grave,
with an inscription to his memory (V).
Such was the end of Robin Hood : a man who, in
a barbarous age, and under a complicated tyranny,
displayed a spirit of freedom and independence,
which has endeared him to the common people,
whose cause he maintained, (for all opposition to
tyranny is the cause of the people,) and, in spite of
the malicious endeavours of pitiful monks, by whom
history was consecrated to the crimes and follies of
titled ruffians and sainted idiots, to suppress all ^
XVI T!IE LIFE OF
record of his patriotic exertions and virtuous acts,
will render his name immortal.
With respect to his personal character : it is suffi-
ciently evident that he was active, brave, prudent,
patient; possessed of uncommon bodily strength, and
considerable military skill ; just, generous, benevo-
lent, faithful, and beloved or revered by his follov,'ers
or adherents for his excellent and amiable qualities,
Fordun, a priest, extols his piety. Major (as we have
seen) pronounces him the most humane and the prince
of all robbers; and Camden, whose testimony is of
some weight, calls him " j^rcedoneyn mitissimum,"
the gentlest of thieves. As proofs of his universal
and singular popularity : his story and exploits have
been made the subject as well of various dramatic
exibitions (W), as of innumerable poems, rimes,
songs and ballads (X) : he has given rise to divers
proverbs (Y) ; and to swear by him, or some of his
companions, appears to have been a usual practice
(Z) : his songs have been chanted on the most solemn
occasions (AA) ; his service sometimes preferred to
the word of god (BB): he may be regarded as the
patron of archery (CC) : and, though not actually
canonized, (a situation to which the miracles wrought
in his favour, as well in his lifetime as after his
death, and the supernatural powers he is, in some
parts, supposed to have possessed (DD), give him an
indisputable claim,) he obtained the principal dis-
tinction of sainthood, in having a festival allotted to
IIOBIN HOOD. XVII
him, and solemn games instituted in honour of his
memory, which were celebrated till the latter end of
the sixteenth century ; not by the populace only,
but by kings or princes and grave magistrates ; and
that as well in Scotland as in England ; being con-
sidered, in the former country, of the highest poli-
tical importance, and essential to the civil and
religious liberties of the people, the efforts of govern-
ment to suppress them frequently producing tumult
and insurrection (EE) : his bow, and one of his
arrows, his chair, his cap, and one of his slippers,
were preserved, with peculiar veneration, till within
the present century (FF) ; and not only places which
afforded him security or amusement, but even the
well at which he quenched his thirst, still retain his
name (GG): a name which, in the middle of the
present century, v/as conferred as a singular distinc-
tion upon the prime minister to the king of Mada-
gascar (HH).
After his death his company was dispersed. His-
tory is silent in particulars : all that we can, there-
fore, learn is, that the honour of Little Johns death
and burial is contended for by rival nations (II);
that his grave continued long " celebrous for the
yielding of excellent whetstones ;" and that some of
his descendants, of the name of Nailor, which he
himself bore, and they from him, were in being so
late as the last century (KK).
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS REFERRED
TO IN THE FOREGOING LIFE.
(a) " Former biographers," &:c.] Such, tliat is, as have
already appeared in print, since a sort of manuscript life in
the Sloane Librai7 will appear to have been of some service.
The first of these respectable personages is the author, or
rather compiler, of " The noble birth and gallant atchieve-
ments of that remarkable outlaw Robin Hood ; togetlier
with a true account, of tlie many merry extravagant exploits
he played ; in twelve several stories : newly collected by an
ingenious antiquar}\ London, printed by V\'. O." [William
Onley.] 4to. black letter, no date. These '' several stories,"
in fact, are only so many of the songs in the common
Garland transposed ; and the " ingenious antiquary," who
strung them togetlier, lias known so little of liis trade, that
he sets out with iuforiiiing us of his heros banisliment by
king Henry the eighth. The above is supposed to be the
" small merry book" called Rcbin Hood, mentioned in a
list of " books, ballads, and histories, printed for and sold
by William Thackeray at die Angel in Duck-lane," (about
1680,) preser\ed in one of the volumes of old ballads (part
of Bagfords collection) in the British Museum.
Anotlier piece of biography, from which much will not be
expected, is, " Tiie lives and heroick atchievements of the
renowned Robin Hood, and James Hind, two noted robbers
and highwaymen. London, 1752." 8vo. This, however,
is probably nothing more than an extract from Johnsons
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. XIX
" Lives of tlie highwaymen," in wliich, as a specimen of tlie
authors historical autlienticity, we have the life and actions
of tliat noted robber, sir John Falstaff.
The principal if not sole reason why our hero is never
once mentioned by Matthew Paris, Benedictus Abbas, or
any otlier ancient English historian, was most probably his
avowed enmity to churchmen ; and history, in former times,
was written by none but monks. Tliey were unwilling to
praise tlie actions which tliey durst neither misrepresent nor
deny. Fordun and IMajor, however, being foreigners, have
not been deterred by this professional spirit from rendering
homage to his virtues.
(A) '' — was bom at Locksley in the county of Notting-
ham."] " Robin hood," says a MS. in tlie British Museum,
(Bib. Sloan. 715.) written, as it seems, toward die end of
the sixteenth century, " was borne at Lockesley in Yorkshyre,
or after otliers in Nottinghamshire." Tlie writer here labours
under manifest ignorance and confusion, but the first row
of the rubric will set him right :
" In Locksly town, in merry Nottinghamshire,
In merry sweet Locksly town,
There hold Robin Hood was horn and was bred,
Bold Robin of famous renown." *
Dr. Fuller (Worthies of England, 1662, p. 320.) is doubtful
as to the place of his nativity. Speaking of the " Memorable
Persons" of Nottinghamshire, " Robert Hood," says he,
" (if not by birtli) by his chief abode this country-man."
Tlie name of such a towTi as Locksley, or Loxley (for so,
we sometimes find it spelled), in tlie county of Nottingham
or of York, does not, it must be confessed, occur either in
sir Henry Spelmans Mllare Anglicum, in Adams's Index
• See Part II. BaUad 1.
XX NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
villaris, in Whatleys Englands Gazetteer,* in Thorotons
History of Nottinghamshire, or in the Nomina villarum
Eboracensium (York, 1768, 8vo). Tlie silence of these
authorities is not, however, to be regarded as a conclusive
proof that such a place never existed. Tlie names of towiis
and villages, of which no trace is now to be found but in
ancient writings, would fill a volume.
(B) — " in the reign of king Henry tlie second, and about
the year of Christ 1160.] " Robin Hood," according to the
Sloane MS. " was borne ... in the daycs of Henry the 2nd
about the yeare 1160." This was tlie 6th year of tliat
monarch ; at whose death (anno 1189) he would, of course,
be about 29 years of age. Tliose writers are tlierefore prett}'
correct who represent him as playing his pranks (Dr. Fullers
phrase) in the reign of king Richard the first, and, according
to the last-named autlior, " about the year of our lord
1200."t Thus Mair (who is followed by Stowe, Annales
1592, p. 227.) " Circa hjec tempora [sci. Ricardi I.] ut
auguror," &c. A MS. note in the museum (Bib. Har. 1233.)
not, in Mr. Wanleys opinion, to be relyed on, places him
in the same period, "Temp. Rich. I." Nor is Tordun
altogetlier out of his reckoning in bringing him down to tlie
time of Henry III. as we shall hereafter see ; and widi him
agrees Andrew of Wyntowne, in his " Oryginale cronykil,"
written about 1420, whicli, at die year 1 283,has die following
lines :
" Lytil Jhon and Robyne Hude
Waythmen were coinmendyd gud :
111 Yngil wode and Baniysdale
Thai oysyd all this tj-me thare trawale."
* All three mention a Loxley in Warwickshire, and another in
Staffordshire (" near Ncedwoodforest ; the manor and seat of the
Kinardsleys.")
t It is 1100 in the original, hut that is clearly an error of the press.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Xil
A modern writer, (Histoiy of WTiitby, by Lionel Charlton,
York, 1779, 4to.) tliough of no authority in this point,
has done well enough to speak of him as living " in the
days of abbot Richard and Peter his successor ;" that is,
between the years 1176 and 1211. The author of the two
plays upon the story of our hero, of which a particular ac-
count will be hereafter given, makes him contemporary with
king Richard, who, as well as his brother prince John, is
introduced upon the scene ; which is confirmed by another
play, quoted in note (D). Warner, also, in his Albions
England, 1602. p. 1 32. refers his existence to " better dales,
first Richards dales." This, to be sure, may not be such
evidence as would be sufficient to decide tlie point in a
court of justice ; but neither judge nor counsel will dispute
the authority of that oracle of the law sir Edward Coke,
who pronounces tliat " This Robert Hood lived in the reign
of king R. I." (3 Institute, 197.)
We must not tlierefore regard what is said by such writers
as the author of " George a Greene, the pinner of Wake-
field," 1599, (see note (G) who represents our hero as con-
temporary with king Edward IV.* and the compiler of a
foolish book called " The noble birth, &c. of Robin Hood,"
(see note (a) who commences it by Informing us of his
banishment by king Henry VIII. As well indeed might
we suppose him to have lived before the time of Charlemagne,
because sir John Harington, In his translation of the
Orlando furioso, 1590. p. 391. has made
" Duke ' Animon in great wrath thus wise ' to ' speake,
Tiiis is a Tale indeed of Robin Hood,
Which to beleeve, might show my wits but weake :"
or to imagine his story must have been familiar to Plutarch,
* King Edward, it is true, is introduced in the " Lytell geste," &c.
but the author has unquestionably meant thejirst of that name.
VOL. I. C
XXll NOTES .\XD ILLUSTRATIONS.
because in his Morals, translated by Dr. Philemon Holland,
1603. p. 644. we read tlie following passage: " Evenso
[i. e. as the crane and fox serve each other in jEsop], when
learned men at a table plunge and drowne tliemseives (as it
were) in subtile problemes and questions interlaced with
logicke, which the \Tilgar sort are not able for tlieir lives to
comprehend and conceive ; whiles they also againe for their
part come in with their foolish songs, and vain ballads of
Robin-Hood and Little John, telling tales of a tubbe, or of
a roasted horse, and such like." Who, indeed, would be
apt to think that his skill in archery was known to Virgil ?
And yet, as interpreted by our facetious friend Mr. Charles
Cotton, he tells us, that
" Cupid was a little tyny,
Cogging, lying, peevish nj-nny ;
But with a bow the shit-brtecht elf
Would shoot like Robin Hood himself."
In a word, if we are to credit translators, he must have
existed before the siege of Troy : for thus, according to one
of Homers :
" Then came a choice companion
Of Robin Hood and Little John,
\Mio many a buck and many a doe.
In Sherwood forest, with his bow,
Had nabb'd; believe me it is true, sir,
The fellows Christian name was Teucer."
Iliad, by Bridges, 4to. p. 231. •
This last supposition, indeed, has even the respectable coun-
tenance of dan Geoffrey Chaucer :
" Pandanis answerde, it may be well inoughj
And held with him of all that ever he saied,
* Thus, likewise, in a much earlier version from the same immortal
bard ( Ilomer a la mode, lti64), we read of
" gi-eate AiioUo, who's as siood
At pricks and buts a» Rnhin Hood."
KOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. XXlll
But in his hart he thought, and soft lough,
And to himselfe full soberly he saied.
From hasellwood there Jolly Robin plaiad,
Shall come all that thou abidest here.
Ye, farewell all the snow of feme yere."
Troilus (B. 5.) Speghts edition, 1602.
(C) " His extraction was noble, and his true name Robert
Fitzootli."] In " an olde and auncient pamphlet," which
Grafton the chronicler had seen, it was written that " Tliis
man discended of a noble parentage." The Sloane MS,
says " He was of ... . parentage ;" and though the material
word is^illegible, the sense evidently requires noble. So, like-
wise, tlie Harleian note : " It is said that he was of noble
blood." Leland also has expressly termed him "nobilis."
(Collectanea, I. 54.) The following account of his family
will be found sufficiently particular. Ralph Fitzothes, or
Fitzooth, a Norman, who had come over to England with
William Rufus, marryed Maud or Matilda, daughter of
Gilbert de Gaunt earl of Kyme and Lindsey, by whom he
had two sons : Philip, afterwai'd earl of Kyme, that earldom
being part of his mothers dowry, and William. Philip the
elder, dyed without issue ; William was a ward to Robret
de Vere earl of Oxford, in whose household he received his
education, and who, by the kings express command, gave
him in marriage to his own niece, the youngest of the three
daughters of the celebrated lady Roisia de Vere, daughter
of Aubrey de Vere, earl of Guisnes in Normandy, and lord
high chamberlain of England under Henry I. and of Adeliza,
daughter to Richard de Clare, earl of Clarence and Hertford,
by Payn de Beauchamp baron of Bedford her second hus-
band. The offspring of this marriage was our hero, Robert
Fitzooth, commonly called Robin Hood. (See Stukeleys
Palaeographia Britannica, No. I. passim.)
A writer in the Gentleman's magazine, for March 1793,
XXIV NOTES AND I LLUS ril ATIONS.
under the signature D. H.* pretends that Hood is only a
corruption of " o' th' wood, q. d. of Shervvood." This, to be
sure, is an absurd conceit; but, if the name were a matter of
conjecture, it might be probably enough referred to some par-
ticular sort of hood our hero wore by way of distinction or
disguise. See Scots Discoverie of witchcraft, 1584. p. 522.
In Jonsons masque of" The kings entertainment at Welbeck,"
( Woj-ks, 1756, vii. 53.) certain characters are introduced " in
livery hoods," of whom Fitz-ale says,
•' Six hoods they are, and of the blood,
They tell of ancient Robin Hood."
It may be remembered that Hugh Capet, the first king of
France, of the third and last race, obtained that surname from
a similar circumstance. It is unnecessary to add that Hood
is a common surname at this day, as well as a place in York-
shire, formerly Hode; and that Edward the 3d, in the 10th
year of his reign, confirmed to Tliomas,tlie son of Rohcrt de
Hode,oi IIoveden,intail-general, certain places of moorland,
S,c. in vasto de Incklesmore, tSf. (Ro. Pa. 10 E. 3. m. 31.)
(D) " He is frequently stiled . . earl of Huntingdon, a
title to which, for the latter part of his life at least, he actually
appears to have had some sort of pretension."] In (Traftons
" olde and auncient pamphlet," though the author had, as
already noticed, said " this man discended of a noble pa-
rentage," he adds, " or rather beyng of a base stocke and
linage, was for his manhood and chivalry ad^'aunced to the
noble dignitie of an erle."
In the MS. note (Bib. Har. 1233) is the following pas-
sage : " It is said that he was of noble blootl no lesse then
an earle." Warner, in his Albions England, already cited,
calls him " a county." Tlie titles of Mundys two plays
* Alias R. (I. the sciin iloii.s and inalisiiant uditor of that degraded
piiblicalion.
NOTES AND ILLUSTllATIONS. XXV
are : " The downfall," and " The death of Robert earle of
Huntington." He is likewise introduced in that character
in the same authors INIetropolis coronata, hereafter cited. In
his epitaph we shall tind him expressly stiled " Robert earl
of Huntingtun."
In " A pleasant commodie called Looke about you,"
printed in 1 600, our hero is introduced, and performs a prin-
cipal part. He is represented as the young earl of Hunting-
ton, and in ward to prince Richard, though his brother
Henry, the young king, complains of his having "had wTong
about his wardship." He is described as
" A gallant youth, a proper gentlemaa ;"
and is sometimes called " pretty earle," and " little wag."
One of the characters thus addresses him :
" But welcome, welcome, and young Huntington,
Sweet Robyn Hude, honors best flowing bloome."
and calls him
" an honourable youth,
Vertuous and modest, Huntingtons right heyre."
It is also said that
" His father Gilbert was the smoothst fac't lord
" That ere bare armes in England or in Fraunce."
In one scene, " Enter Richard and Robert with coronets."
" Rich. Richard the Prince of England, with his ward.
The noble Robert Hood, earle Huntington,
Present their service to your majestie."
Dr. Percys objection, that the most ancient poems make
no mention of this earldom,* but only call him a yeoman,
will be considered in another place. How he founded his
pretensions to this title will be seen in his pedigree. Here
it is.
* The authoiily cited by Graftiiu, in 1569, a? then "oMe and auiicieiil"
I'.iUit have bocn.at least, of equal autiqiiily uith llie imosI ancient poems
that Dr. P. is aciiiuiiuad with.
%
XXVI
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
" THE PEDIGREE OF ROBIN HOOD EARL OF HUNTINGTON.
Richard Pitzgil-crpRoisia
I. bert de Clare,
Walthcof earl of r^udith countess of earl of Brien.
Northumberland
and Huntington.
Huntingdon, the
conqueror's niece.
II. I 2 III
Simon de S.=j=Maud=^DaTid I. king
of Scots, earl
Alice=Robert Fitzgilbert
lis 1. earl of
Northampton
and Hunting-
don
i
of Huntingdon.
Henry earl of=f=Ada daugh-
ter of Wil-
N orthuniber-
land and Hun-
tingdon.
r
Simon S.lisII.=f=Isabel dau. of
earl of North-
ampton and
Huntington.
Robert Bossu
earl of Leices-
ter.
v.. I
Malcolm H . king
of Scots, earl of
Northumberland
and KuntingdoD.
vn.
liam earl of
Warren. Gilbert deGaunfc=r=Roisia
earloflCymeand
Lindsey came in
■with the con-
queror.
1
Walter de Gaunt
earl of Lind-
sey.
Gilbert de GauntszpAvis
earl of Lincoln.
dau.
William earl of Huntingdon.
Simon S. lis IIL earl of Hun-=Alice heii'ess.
tingdon and Northton. ob. s.
p. 1184.
IX.
David earl of ' Carrick' and Hunting-
don, son of Henry IV. (above) earl
and of Ada. ob. 1219.
and heir of
\\"illiam de
Romara e.
of Lincoln.
Ralf Fitzooth a=pMaiid
Norman, lord
of Kyme.
Philip Fitzooth,
lord of Kyme,
ob. s. p.
John sirnamed Scot his son, earl
of Angus and Huntingdon, ob. s.
p. i23r.
William Fitzooth=pa daughter of
brought up by Ro- ~ ~
bert earl of Oxford
I
Robert Fitzooth, commonly caUed Robin Hood,
pretended earl of Huntington, ob. 12r4 [1217]." *
Payn Beau-
champ and
ladyRoisia dc
Vere.
Stukeleys Palseographia Britannica, No. II. p. 115. In an inter-
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. XXVU
(E) " In his youdi he is reported to have been of a wdld
and extravagant disposition, Sec."] Graftons pamphlet, after
supposing him to have been " advaunced to the noble dignitie
of an erle," continued thus : " But afterw'ardes he so prodi-
gally exceeded in charges and expences, tliat he fell into great
debt, by reason whereof, so many actions and sutes were com-
menced against him whereunto he answered not, that by
leaved copy of Robin Hoods garland formerly belonging to Dr. Stiike-
Iey,and now in the possession of Francis Douce esquire, opposite the 2d
page of the 1st song, is the following note in his own hand :
" Guy earl of Warwick.
George Gamwell Joaima=p
of Gamwell hall masna I Fitz Odoth
esq. I '
Robin Fitz Odoth
Gamwell the kings forester in Yorkshire,
mentioned in Camden.
See my answer. No. II. of lady Roisia,
where is Robin Hoods true pedigree."
The doctor seems, by this pedigree, to have founded our heros preten-
sions on his descent from Roisia, sister of Robert Fitzgilbert, husband
of Alice, youngest daughter of Judilh, countess of Huntingdon ; which,
whatever It might do in those times, would scarcely be thought sutlicient
to support such a claim, at present. Beside, though John the Scot dyed
without issue, he left three sisters, all marryed to powerful barons, either
in Scotland or in England, none of whom, however, assumed the title. It
is, therefore, probable, after all, that Robin Hood derived his earldom
by some other channel.
Dr. Stukeley, whose learned labours are sufficiently known and es-
teemed, was a professed antiquary, and a beneficed clergyman of the
churcli of England. He has not, it is true, thought it necessary to cite
any ancient or other authority in support of the above representations;
nor is it in the editors power to supply the deficiency. Perhaps, indeed,
the doctor might think himself intitled to expect that his own authority
would be deemed sufiicient : upon that, however, they must be content
forest. Sit fides peties auctorem ! Mr Parkin, who published "A reply
to the peevish, weak, and malevolent objections brought by Dr. Stuke-
ley, In his Origines Roystonianie, No. 2." (Norwich, 174.S. 4to.) terms
" his pedigree of Robin Hood, quite jocose, an original indeed !" (see pp.
27, 32.)
Otho and Fitz-Otho,itmust be confessed, were couunon names among
XXVIll XOTES AND I LLUSTR ATIOVS.
order of lawe he was outlawed."* Leland must undoubtedly
have had good authority for calling him " nobilis ille exlex."t
Fordun supposes him in the number of those deprived of
their estates by K. Hen. III. " Hoc intempore," says he,
" de exheredatis surrexit & caput erexit ille famosissimus
siccarius Robertus Hode & littill Johanne cum eorum com-
plicibus." (p. 774.) Tlie Sloune MS. .says he was" so ryotous
tliat he lost or sould his patrimony & for debt became an
outlawe:" and the Harleian note mentions his " having
wasted his estate in riotous courses." Tlie former authority,
however, gives a different, tliough, it may be, less credible,
account of his being obliged to abscond. It is as follows :
" One of his first exployts was the going abrode into a forrest
& bearing with him a bowe of exceeding great strength he fell
into company witli certayne rangers or woodmen, who fell to
quarrel with him, as making showe to use such a bowe as no
man was able to shoote withall. Whereto Robin replyed
that he had two better then that at Lockesley, only he bare
that with him nowe as a byrding bowe. At length the *' con-
tention' grewe so bote that tliere was a wager laj d about tlie
kyllyng of a deere a greate distance of, for performance whereof
Robin offered to lay his head to a certayne some of money,
the advantage of which rash speach the others presently tooke.
the Aiiglo-Nonnans, || but no such name as Olhes, Ooth, Fitz-Otlii'S, or
Fitz-Ooth, has been elsewhere met with. Philip de Kime, also, was
certainly a considerable landholder in the county of Lincoln, in llie time
of king Henry II. but it no where appears, except from Dr. Stiikeley,
that his surname was Fitz-Ooth.
The doctor likewise informs us that the arms of Ralph Fitz-Ooth, and
consequently of our hero were, " g. two beudlets ensjrailed, o."
• Graftons chronicle, p. 85. t CoUec. I. .54.
II " Filius Roberti filii Odonis est in custodia Domini Regis, et est vj
anuurum, ct ipse cs; lieres decime partis unius iniliiis, ct vi.\ possunt
inde habere victum suum ipse et mater sua." Rotulus de vidius, &c. (31
H. 2.) MSS. Har. 624.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. XXIX
So the marke being found out, one of them, both to make his
hart fliynt and hand unsteady, as he was about to shoote
urged him with the losse of head if he myst the marke. Not-
withstanding Robyn kyld the deare, and gave every man his
money agayne, save to him which at the poynt of shooting so
up])raided him with danger to loose his hed for that wager ;
& he sayd they would drinke togeyther : whereupon the
others stomached the matter and from quarelling they grewe
to fighting with him. But Robin, getting him somewhat of,
with shooting dispatch them, and so fled away; and then be-
taking himselfe to lyve in the woods," &c.*
Tliat he lurked or infested the woods is agreed by all.
" Circa haec tempora," says Major, " Robertus Hudus Anglus
& parvxis Joaimes, latrones famatissimi, in nemoribus latue-
runt."
Dr. Stukeley says that " Robin Hood took to this wild
way of life, in imitation of his grandfather Geoftrey de Man-
deville; who being a favorer of Maud empress, K. Stephen
took him prisoner at S. Albans, and made him give up the
tower of London, Walden, Plessis, kc. upon which he lived
on plunder." (MS. note in his copy of Robin Hoods
garland.)
(F) " Of these he chiefly affected Barnsdale, Sec."]
" Along on the lift bond," says Leland, " a iii. miles of
betwixt Milburne and Feribridge I saw the wooddi and
famose forrest of Barnesdale, wher thay say that Robyn
Hudde lyvid like an outlaw." Itinerary, V. 101.
" They haunted about Barnsdale forrest, Compton [r.
Plompton] parke,t and such other places." MS. Sloane.
" His principal residence," says Fuller, " was in Shirewood
• See Robiu Hoods progress to Nottinsham, part IL ballad 2.
+ Plompton park, upon the banks of the Peterill, in Cumberland, was
formerly very large, and set apart by the kings of England for the
XXX NOTKS AND I LLUSTR ATIO'NS.
forrest in this county [Notts], though he had another haunt
(he is no fox that hatli but one hole) near the sea in the
North-riding in Yorkshire, where Robin Hoods bay still re-
tainelh his name : not that he was any pirat, but a liuid-thief,
wlio retreated to those unsuspected parts for liis security."
Worthies of England, p. 320.
In Thorotons Nottinghamshire, p. 505. is some account of
the ancient and present stale of Sherwood forest; but one
looks in vain, through that dry detail of land-owners, for any
particulars relating to our hero. " In anno domini 1194,
king Richard tlie first, being a hunting in the forrest of Sher-
wood, did chase a hart out of the forrest of Sherwood into
Bamesdale in Yorkshire, and because lie could not tliere
recover him, he made proclamation at Tickill in Yorkshire,
and at divers other places there that no person should kill,
hurt, or chase the said hart, but diat he might safely retome
into forrest againe, which hart was afterwards called a hart-
royall proclaimed. (Manwoods Forest laws, 1598, p. 25.
from " an auncient recorde" found by hira in the tower of
Nottingham castle.)*
keeping of deer. It was disafforested or disparkcd, by Henry flie 8tli.
See Camdens Britannia, by bishop Gibson, who seems to confound tliis
park with Inglewood forest, a district of sixteen miles in length, reaching
from Carlile to Ptnrith, where the kings of England used to hunt, and
Edward I. is reported to have killed 200 bucks in one day. Ibi.
* Anno 1194] Vicesimanona die mensis »n«r?(! Richardus rex AnglisB
profectits est videre Clipestone, 4' forrestas de Sirewode, quat ipse
nunquam vidcrat antea : & placwrunt ei multnvt, ^ eodem die rediit
ad Notinghani." R. de Hoveden Annales, p. 736.
Drayton, (Polyolbion, song 26.) introduces Sherwood in the character
of a nymph, who, out of disdain at the preference shewn by the poet to
a sister-forest,
" All self praise set apart, deterininetli to sing
That lusty Kobin Hood, wlio long time like a king
Within her compass liv'd, and «hen he list to range,
For some rich booty set, or else liis air to change.
To Sherwood still retir'd, his only standing court."
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. XXXl
(*F) " Here he either found," &c.] After being outlawed,
Grafton tells us, " for a lewde shift, as his last refuge, [he]
gatliered together a companye of roysters and cutters, and
practised robberyes and spoyling of the kinges subjects, and
occupied and frequented the forestes or wild countries." See
also the following note.
(G) " Little John, William Scadlock, George a Green,
pinder of Wakefield, Much a millers son, and a certain monk
or friar named Tuck."] Of these the preeminence is incon-
testably due to Little John, whose name is almost constantly
coupled with that of his gallant leader, " Robertus Hode &
littill Johanne," are mentioned together by Fordun, as early
as 1341; and later instances of the connection would be
almost endless. After the words, " for debt became an
outlaw," the Sloane MS. adds : " then joyninge to him many
stout fellowes of lyke disposition, amongst whom one called
Little John was principal or next to him, they haunted about
Barnsdale forrest," &c. See notes (KK) (LL).
With respect to frier Tuck, " thogh some say he was an
other kynd of religious man, for that tlie order of freyTS was
not yet sprung up," (MS. Sloan.) yet as the Dominican friers
(or friers preachers) came into England in the year 1221, up-
ward of 20 years before the death of Robin Hood, and several
orders of these religious had flourished abroad for some time,
there does not seem much weight in that objection : nor in
fact, can one pay much regard to the term frier, as it seems
to have been the common title given by the vulgar (more
especially after the reformation) to all the regular clergy, of
which the friers were at once the lowest and most numerous.
If ftier Tuck be the same person who, in one of the oldest
songs, is called the curtail frier of Fountains-dale, he must
necessaryly have been one of the monks of that abbey, which
XXXll NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
was of the Cistertian order. However this may be, frier
Tuck is frequently noticed, by old wTiters, as one of the com-
panions of Robin Hood, and as such was an essential clia-
racter in the morris dance, (see note (FF). lie is tlius men-
tioned by Skelton, laureat, in his " goodly interlude" of
Magnificence, written about the year 1300, and with an
evident allusion to some game or practice now totally forgotten
and inexplicable :
" Another bade shave lialfe my berde,
And boyes to the pyleiy gan me plucke,
Aud wolde have made me freer Tucke,
To prechc oute of the pylery hole."
In the year 1417, as Stow relates, " one, by his counterfeite
name, called frier Tucke, with manie other malefactors, com-
mitted many robberies in the counties of Surrey & Sussex,
whereupon the king sent out his writs for their apprehension."
(Annales, 1592.)
George a Green is George o'the gi'een, meaning perhaps
the town-green, in which the pound or pinfold stood of which
he had the care. He has been particularly celebrated, and
" As good as George a Green" is still a common saying.*
Drayton, describing the progi'ess of the river Calder, in the
west riding of Yorkshire, has the following lines :
" It chanc'd she in her coarse on ' Kirkley' cast her eye.
Where merry Robin Hood, that honest thief, doth lie ;
Beholding fitly too before how Wakefield stood,
She doth not only think of lusty Robin Hood,
But of his merry man, the pindar of the town
Of Wakefield, George a Green, whose fames so far are blown
For their so valiant ti^ht, tliat every freemans song
Can tell you of the same; quoth slie, be talk'd on long.
For ye were merry lads, and those were merry days."
Thus, too, Richard Bralhwayte, in his poetical epistle " to all
• It occurs in " Tarltons ncwes out of purgatory," 1030, 4to, (entered
on the stationers books in 1500).
XOTES AND ILLUSTRATION'S. XXXlll
true-bred northeme sparks of the generous society of the Cot-
toneers" (Strappado for the divell, 1615):
" Bill haste, my muse, in colours to display
Some auncient customes in their high-roade way.
At least such places labour to make knowne
As former times have honour'd with renowne.
The first whereof that I intend to show
Is merry Wakefield, and her pindar loo,
Which fame hath blaz'd with all that did belong,
Unto that towne in many gladsome sung.
The pindars valour, and how firme he stood
In th' townes defence 'gainst th' rebel Robin Hood,
How stoutly he behav'd himselfe, and would,
In spite of Robin, bring his horse to th' fold,
His many May-games which were to be scene
Yearly presented upon Wakefield greene,
Where lovely Jugge and lustie Tib would go.
To sec Tom-lively turne upon the toe ;
Hob, Lob, and Crowde the fidler would be there.
And many more I will not speake of here.
Good god! how glad hath been this hart of mine.
To see that towne, which hath, in former time,
So flourish'd ai:d so gloried in her name.
Famous by th' pindar who first rais'd the same !
Yea, I have paced ore that greene and ore
And th' more I saw't I tooke delight the more,
" For where we take contentment in a place,
" A whole dales walke seemes as a cinquepace.
Yet as there is no solace upon earth.
Which is attended evermore with mirth.
But when we are transported most with gladnesse,
Then suddenly our joy's rcduc'd to sadnesse ;
So far'd with me to see the pindar gone,
And of those jolly laddes that were not one
Left to survive : I gricv'd more then He say :
(But now for Bradford I must hast away.)
Unto thy task, my muse, and now make knowne.
The jolly shoo-maker of Bradford towne.
His gentle craft so rais'd in former time
By princely journey-men his discipline,
" Where he was wont with passengers to quafte,
" But suffer none to carry up their statl'c
Upon their shuuklcrs, whilst they past through town,
XW'.V NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
For if they did he soon would beat them downe ;
(So valiant was the soiiter) aud from hence
Twixt Robin Hood and him grew th' difference ;
Which, cause it is by most stage-poets writ.
For brevity I tliought good to omit."
In tlie latter part of this extract, honest Richard evidently
alludes to " A pleasant conceyted comedie of George a Greene,
the pinner of Wakefield ; as it was sundry times acted by the
servants of the right honourable the earle of Sussex," 1599,
4to. which has been erroneously ascribed to Heywood the
epigrammatist, and is reprinted, v.ith other trash, in the late
edition of Dodsleys Old plays; only it imluckily happens
that Robin Hood is almost the only person who has no dif-
ference with tlie souter (or shoe-maker) of Bradford. The
play in short, (or at least that part of it which we have any
concern wnth) is founded on the ballad of Robin Hood and
the pinder of Wakefield, (see part II. song 3,) which it directly
quotes, and is in fact a most despicable performance.* King
Edward (the fourth) having taken king James of Scotland
prisoner, after a most bloody battle near Middleham-castle,
from which of 30,000 Scots not 5000 had escaped, comes
\vith his royal captive in disguise to Bradford, where they
meet Robin Hood and George a Green, who have just had a
stout affray : and after having read this, and a great deal
more such nonsensical stuff, captain Grose sagaciously " sup-
poses, that this play has little or no foundation in liistory;"
and very gravely sits down, and debates his opinion in form.
" The histoiy of George a Green, pindar of the town of
Wakefield," 4to. no date,t is a modern production, chiefly
• It, likewise, gives the proverb noticed in a preceding page thus :
" Were he as good as George a Greene, I would strike him sure."
t There is an edition, in 1700, 8vo.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. XX'vV
founded on the old play just mentioned, of neither authority
nor merit.
Our gallant pinder is thus facetiously commemorated by
Drunken Barnaby :
" Hinc diverso cursu, sero
Quod audissem de pindero
Wakefeeldensi ; gloria muudi,
Ubi socii sunt jucundi,
Mecuiii statu! peragraie
Geor^ii fustem visitare."
" Turning tlience, none could me hinder
To salute the Wakefield pindar;
Who indeed is the world's glory,
With his comrades never sorry.
This was the cause, lest you should miss it,
George's club I meant to visit.
" Veni Wakefield perama'num,
Ubi qua^rens Georgium Greenum,
Nou inveni, sed in lignum
Fixum reperi Georgii signnm,
Ubi allam bibi feram
Donee Georgio fortior eram."
" Strait at Wakefield I was seen a.
Where I sought for George a Green a ;
But could find not such a creature.
Yet on a sign I saw his feature.
Where strength of ale had so much stir'd me.
That I grew stouter far than Jordie."
Besides the companions of our hero enumerated in the text,
and whose names are most celebrated and familiar, we find
those of William of Goldsbrough, (mentioned by Grafton,)
Right-hitting Brand, (by Mundy,)and Gilbert with the white
hand, who is thrice named in the Lyttell geste of Robyn
Hode, (I. 52. 71.) and is likewise noticed by bishop Gawin
Douglas, in his Palice of Honour, printed at Edinburgh in
1579, but written before 1518 :
" Thair saw I Maitlaind upon auld Beird Gray,
Robene Hude, and Gilbert with the quhite ' hand,'
How Hay of Nauchton slew, in Madin hind,"*
Scottish poems, i. 122.
XXXVl NOTES A\D ILLUSTRATIONS.
As no mention is made of Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough
and William of Cloudeslie, either in the ancient legend, or in
more than one of the numerous songs of Robin Hood, nor
does the name of the latter once occur in the old metrical
history of those famous archers, reprinted in Percys Reliques,
and among pieces of ancient popular poetry, it is to be con-
cluded that they flourished at differentperiods, or at leasthad
no connection with each other. In a poem, however, intitled,
" Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough, and young William of
Cloudesley, the second part," 1616. 4to. b. l.(Bib. Bod. Art.
L. 71. being a more modern copy than that in SeldenC. 39.
which wants the title, but was probably printed with tlie first
part, which it there accompanies, in 1605; differing con-
siderably therefrom in several places ; and containing many
additional verses ;) are the following lines (not in the former
copy) :
" Now beare thy fnlliers heart, my boy.
Said William of Cloudesley then,
When i was young i cai'd not for
Tlie brass of sturdiest men.
The pinder of Wakefield, George a Green,
I try'il a sommers day.
Yet he nor i were victors made
Nor victor'd went away.
Old Robiu Hood, nor Litlle John,
Amou<;st their merry men all,
Nor fryer Tuck, so stout and \oung.
My courage could appall."
(II) " iNIarian."] Who or whatever this lady was, it is ob-
servable that no mention of her occurs either in the Lytell
geste of Robyn Hode, or in any other poem or song con-
cerning him, except the not very old ballad of Robin Hoods
golden prize, where she is barely named, and a still more
modern one of no merit (see part II. song 24).* She is an
* Surely the " lady" alluded to in the old May -game cannot be our
maid Marian. The earliest notice of her occurs in Barclay's liyloyes,
about 1500, where she is evidently connected with Robin Hood. See
note (Y).
NOTES AND ILLUSTUATION S. XXXVU
important character, however, in the two old plays of Tlie
death and downfall of Robert earl of Huntington, written
before 1 600, and is frequently mentioned by dramatic or
other writers about that period. Her presence, likewise,
was considered as essential to the morris-dance. See note
(FF.)
In the First part of K. Henry IV. Falstaff says to the
hostess, — " Tliere's no more faith in thee than in a stew'd
prune ; nor no more truth in thee tlian in a drawn fox ; and
for womanhood, maid Marian may be tlie deputy's wife of
the ward to thee :" upon which Dr. Johnson observes, that
" Maid Marian is a man dressed like a woman, who attends
the dancers of the morris." " In the ancient songs of Robin
Hood," says Percy, " frequent mention is made of maid
Marian, who appears to have been his concubine. I could
quote," adds he, " many passages in my old ISIS, to this
purpose, but shall produce only one :*
" Good Robin Hood was living then,
Wliich now is quite forgot,
And so was fayre maid Marian, &c."
Mr. Steevens, too, after citing the old play of The down-
fall of Robert earl of Huntington, 1601, to prove " that maid
Marian was originally a name assumed by Matilda, the
daughter of Robert lord Fitzwater, while Robin Hood re-
mained in a state of outlawry," observes, that " Shakspeare
speaks of maid Marian in her degraded state, when she was
represented by a strumpet or a clown :" and refers to figure 2
in the plate at the end of the play, with Mr. Toilets obser-
• Without " the ancient songs," to which the doctor refers, are con-
fined to his "old MS." he evidently asserts what he would probably lind
it difiicult to prove. As for the passage he produces, it seems nothing to
the purpose ; as, in the lirst place, it is apparently not " ancient ;" and,
in the second, it is apparently not from a " song of Robin Hood."
XXXVIU NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
vations on it. The wdow, in sir W, Davenants Love and
honour, says : " I have been mistress Marian in a maurice
ere now;" and Mr. Warton* quotes an old piece, intitled
" Old Meg of Herefordshire for a maid Marian, and Here-
ford town for a morris- dance: or 12 morris-dancers in Here-
fordshire of 1200 years old," London, 1609, quarto : which
is dedicated, he says, to one Hall, a celebrated tabourer in
that country .f See note (FF).
(I) " His company, &c."] See tlie entire passage quoted
from Major in a subsequent note. "By such bootyes as he
could gel," says the writer of the Sloane MS. "his company
encreast to an hundred and a halfe."
(J) — " the words of an old writer."] The author of the
Sloane manuscript ; which adds : " after such maner he
procured the pynner of Wakefeyld to become one of his
company, and a freyr called jNIuchel [r. Tuck] . . . Scarlock
he induced upon this occasion : one day meeting him as he
walket solitary & like to a man forlorne, because a mayd to
whom he was affyanced was taken from [him] by the violence
of her frends, & given to anotlier that was old & welthy,
whereupon Robin, understanding when the maryage-day
* Mr. Warton, having observed that " The play of Robin and Marian
is said to have been performed by the school-boys of Anglers, according
to annual custom, in the year 1392 : The boys were deguisiez, says the
old French record ; and they had among them un fillette desguisee ; (Car-
pent. Du Cange, v. Robinet-Pcntccoste.)'' adds " Our old character of
Mayd Marian may be hence illustrated." (His. En. po. i. 245.) Tliis,
indeed, seems sufficiently plausible; but unfortunately the Robin and
Marian of Anglers are not the Robin and Marian of Sherwood. The
play is still extant. See Fabliaux ou contes, Paris, irsi. ii. 144. There
arc, likewise, some very ancient pastoral ballads on the subject of these
two lovers. See La Borde, Essai sur la musique, ii. 163, 215. But, in
fact, the names of Robin and Marion seem to have been used by the
chansonniers of antiquity like those of Colin and Phoebe, &c.
+ In 1592, Richard Jones, stationer, entered on the company's books,
" A plesant fancie, or merrie conceyt, called the passion et morrys,
daunst by a crue of 8 couple of wores."
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. XXXIX
should be, came to the church as a begger, &: having his o\\-n
company not fiu- of, which came in so soone as they liard
the sound of his home, he tooke the bryde perforce from him
that [bare] in hand to have marryed her, & caused the
preist to wed her & Scarlocke toge}'ther." (See part II.
song 8.) This MS. of which great part is merely the old
legend or Lytell geste of RobjTi Hode turned into prose, ap-
pears to have been written before the year 1600.
(K) " In shooting, &c."] MS. Sloan. Grafton also speaks
of our heros " excelljTig principally in archery or shooting,
his manly courage agreeyng thereunto."
Their archery, indeed, was unparalleled, as both Robin
Hood and Little John have frequently shot an arrow a mea-
sured mile, or 1760 yards, which it is supposed, no one,
either before or since, was ever able to do. " Tradition,"
says master Charlton, " informs us that in one of ' Robin
Hoods ' peregrinations, he, attended by his trusty mate Little
John, went to dine [at \Miitby-abbey] with the abbot Richard,
who, having heard them often famed for their great dexterity
in shooting with the long bow, begged them after dinner to
shew him a specimen thereof; when, to oblige the abbot,
they went up to the top of the abbey, whence each of them
shot an arrow, which fell not far from Whitby-laths, but on
the contrary side of the lane ; and in memorial thereof, a
pillar was set up by the abbot in the place where each of the
arrows was found, which ai-e yet standing in these our days ;
that field where the pillar for Robin Hood's arrow stands
being still called Robin Hood's field, and the other where the
pillar for Little John's arrow is placed, still preserving the
name of John's field. Their distance from Whitby-abbey is
more than a measured mile, which seems verj' far for the
flight of an arrow, and is a circumstance that will stagger
xl NOTES AXD ILLUSTRATIONS.
the faith of many; but as to the credibility of the story,
every reader may judge thereof as he thinks proper; only I
must here beg leave to observe that these ver)' pillars are
mentioned, and the fields called by tlie aforesaid names, in
the old deeds for that ground, now in the possession of Mr.
Thomas \Vatson." (History of Whitby, York, 1779. p. 146.)*
Dr. Meredith Hanmer, in his Chronicle of Ireland, (p.
179.) speaking of Little John, says, " There are memorable
acts reported of him, which I hold not for truth, that he
would shoot an arrow a mile off, and a great deale more ;
but them," adds he, " I leave among the lyes of the land." f
See note (KK).
* " The quarry from whence kins; Wolferc fetched stones for his royal
structure (i.e. Peterborough] was undoubtedly tliat of Bernach near unto
Stamford And I find in the charter of K. Edward the Confessor,
which lie granted to tlie abbot of Ramsey, that llie abbot of Ramsey
slionid s;ive to the abbot and convent of I'etcrburgh 4000 eeles in the
time of Lent, and in consideration thereof the abbot of Pelerburgh should
give to the abbot of Ramsey as much freestone from his pitts in Bernack,
and as nuidi ragstone from his pitts in Peterbnrgh as he should need.
Nor did the abbot of Pelerbiirgh from these pits furnish only that but
other abhies also, as that of St. Edmunds-Bury : in memory whereof
there arc two long stones yet standing upon a balk in Castor-field, near
unto Gunwade-ferry ; which erroneous tradition hath given out to be
draughts of arrows from Alwalton churchyard thither ; the one of Robin
Hood, and the other of Little John; but tlie truth is, they were set up
for witnesses, that the carriages of stone from Bernack to Gunwade-ferry,
to be conveyed to S. Edmunds-Bury, might pass that w ay without paying
toll ; and in some old terrars they are called S. Edmunds stones. These
stones are nicked in their tops after the manner of arrows, probably
enough in memory of S. Edniiind, who was shot to death with arrows
by the Danes." Guntons History of the church of Peterburgh, ItJSG, p. 4.
+ " In this relation," Mr. Walker observes, " the doctor not only
evinces his credulity, but displays his ignorance of archery; for the in-
genious and learned Mr. Barrington, than whom no man can be better
informed on the subject, thinks that eleven score and seven yards is the
utmost extent that an arrow can be shot from a long bow." (Archjeo-
logia, vol. viii). According to tradition, he adds. Little John shot an
arrow from the Old-bridge, Dublin, to the present site of St. Michaels
church, a distance not exceeding, he believes, that mentioned by Mr.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. xli
(L) " An outlaw, in those times, being deprived of protec-
tion, owed no allegiance, &c."] Such a character was,
doubtless, at the period treated of, in a very critical situation;
it being equally as legal and meritorious to hunt down and
dispatch him as it was to kill a wolf, the head of which
animal he was said to bear. " Item foris facit," says Brac-
ton, (who wrote about the time,) omnia que pacis sunt, quia
a tempore quo utlagatus est caput gerit lupinum, ita ut im-
pune ab omnibus interlici possit. (1. 2. c. 35.) In the great
Barrington. (Historical essay on the dress of the ancient and modern
Irish, p. 129.)
What Mr. Baniugton " thinks" may be true enough, perhaps, of the Tox-
ophilitt society and other modern archers; but people should not talk of
Robin Hood who never shot in his bow. The above ingenious writers
censure of Dr. Hanmers credulity and ignorance, seems to be misapplied ;
since he cannot be supposed to believe what he holds not for truth, and
actually leaves among the lyes of the land.
See also the old song, printed in the appendix, p. 207. Drayton, who
wrote before archery had fallen into complete disuse, says —
" At marks full forty score they us'd to prick and rove."
That Mr. Barrington, indeed, was very ill informed on the subject is
evident from a most scarce book, in the editors possession, intitled
" Aime for the archers of St. George's lields, containing the names of
all the marks in the same fields, with their true distances according to
the dimensuration of the line. Formerly gathered by Richard Hannis,
and now corrected by Thomas Bick, and others. London, Printed by
N. Howell for Robert Minehard and Benjamin Brownsmith, and are to
be sold at the sign of the man in the moon in Blackman street, 1664."
16mo. where the distance from Alpha to BicTts memorial is 18 score, 16
yards; and 11 score 7 yards (though there are inferior numbers, the
lowest being 9, 12) appears to be a very moderate shot indeed. Two of
these marks are Robin Hood and Little John. See also Shakspeare's
Second part of K. Henry IV. act 3, scene 2, where it is say'd that Old
Double "would have clapp'd i'the clout at twelve score; and carry 'd jou
a forehand shaft a fourteen nad fourteen and a half:" and the notes upon
the passage in Steevens's edition, 1793. It is probable after all, that the
word forty in Drayton is an error, of the transcriber or pressman, for
fourteeii.
Whatever Robin Hoods father might do, there can be no question that
the author of the old ballad in which he is mentioned (Part II. song I.)
has " shot in a lusty strong bow," when he speaks of
" Two north-country miles and an inch at a shot."
Xlii NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
*
roll of the exchequer, in the 7th year of king Richard I. is
an allowance by writ, of two marks, to Tliomas de Prest-
wude, for bringing to Westminster tlie head of William de
Elleford an outlaw. (See Madoxes History of the Exche-
quer, 1 36.) Those who received or consorted with a person
outlawed were subject to the same punishment. Such was
the humane policy of our enlightened ancestors ! See note (S).
(M)
" how,
. • . . they could disconrse
The freezing hours away !"]
(Cymbeline, act 3. scene 3 :) The chief subjects of our heros
conversation are supposed, by a poetical genius of the 16th
century, to have been the commendation of a forest-life, and
the ingratitude of mankind.
" I have no talcs of Robin Hood, though mal-content was he
In better daies, first Richards daits, and liv'd in woods as we
A Tymon of the world ; but not devoutly was he soc,
And therefore praise I not the man : but for from him did groe
Words worth the note, a word or twaine of him ere hence we goc.
Those daies begot some mal-contents, the principall of whonie
A county was, that with a troope of yomandry did rome.
Brave archers and deliver men, since nor before so good.
Those took from rich to give the poore, and manned Robin Hood.
He fed them well, and lodg'd them safe in pleasant caves and bowers.
Oft saying to his merry men, What jnster life than ours?
Here use we tallents that abroad the churles abuse or hide.
Their coffers excrements, and yeat for common wants denide.
We might have sterved for their store, & they have dyc'st our bones.
Whose tongues, driftes, harts, intice, meaiie, melt, as syrens, foxes, stones,
Yea even the best that bctterd them heard but aloofe our moues.
And rcdily the churles could prie and prate of our amis,
ForgclfnU of their owue. . . .
I did amis, not missing friends that wisht me to amend :
I did amend, but missed friends when mine amis had end :
My friends therefore shall fuide me true, but I will trust no frend.
Not one I knewe that wisht me ill, nor any workt me well.
To lose, laeke, live, lime, trends, in yncke, an hell, an hell, an hell!
Then happie we (quoth Robin Hood) in merry Sherwood that dwell.*
• Warners Albions England, 1602, p. 132. It is part of the hermits
speech to the earl of Lancaster.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. xliii
It has been conjectured, however, that, in the winter sea-
son, our hero and his companions severally quartered them-
selves in villages or country-houses more or less remote, vrith
persons of whose fidelity they were assured. It is not im-
probable, at the same time, that they might have tolerably
comfortable habitations erected in the woods.
Archery, which our hero and his companions appear to
have carried to a state of perfection, continued to be cultivated
for some ages after their time, down, indeed, to that of Henry
VIII. or about the year 1540, when, owing to the introduc-
tion of aitillery and matchlock-guns, it became neglected,
and the bowmen of Cressy and Agincourt utterly extinct;
though it may be still a question whether a body of expert
archers would not, even at this day, be superior to an equal
number armed with muskets.* The loss sustained firom
this change by the people at large seems irreparable. An-
ciently, the use of the bow or bill q\ialified every man for a
soldier ; and a body of peasants, led on by a Tyler or a Cade,
was not less formidable than any military force that could be
raised to oppose them ; by wliich means the people fi-om
time to time preserved the very little liberty they had, and
wliich their tyrants were constantly endeavouring to wrest
from them. See how the case stands at present: the sovereign,
let him be who or what he will, (kings have been tyrants and
may be so again,) has a standing army, well disciplined and
accoutred, while tlie subjects or people are absolutely de-
fenceless : as much care having been taken, particularly since
* Sir Roger Williams, in his Brief e discourse ofwarre, 1590, has a
chapter " To prooue bow-men the worst shot vsed in these dales." Sir
John Smythe, however, was of a ditferent opinion. See his " Discourses
concerning the formes and elfects of divers sorts of weapons, &c. As
also, of the great sufficiencie, excelleucie, and wonderful effects of archers,"
1590, 4to. See also a different treatise by him upon the same subject,
in Num. 132 of the Harleian MSS.
XllV NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
" tlie glorious revolution," to deprive them of arms as was
formerly bestowed to enforce their use and practice.* The
following extract from Hales Ilistoria placitomm corona; (i.
118.) will serve to shew how familiar the bow and arrow
was in the 14th century. " M. 22. E. 3. Rot. 117. coram
rege Ebor. This was the case of Henry Vescy, who had
been indicted before the sheriff in turno sue ... of divers
felonies, whereupon the .sheriff mandavit commissionem suam
Henrico de Clyderawe & aliis ad capiendum praedictum H.
\'escy, & salvo ducendum usque ciustrum de Ebor." \'escy
would not -submit to an arrest, but fled, &: inter fugiendum
shot with his bow and arrows at his pursuers, but in the end
was kild by Clyderawe :" to which may be added a remark-
able passage in Harisons " Description of England," (pre-
fixed to Holinsheds chronicle, 1587,) to prove how much it
had declined in the 16th. " In times past," says he, " the
cheefe force of England consisted in their long bowes. But
now we have in maner generallie given over that kind of
artillerie, and for long bowes in deed doo practise to shoot
compasse for our pastime ; which kind of shooting can never
yeeld anie smart stroke, nor beat down our enemies, as our
countriemen were woont to doo at everie time of need.
Certes the Frenchmen and Rutters f deriding our new
archerie in respect of their corslets, will not let, in open
skirmish, if anie leisure serve, to turne up their tailes, and
crie, Shoote, English ; and all because our strong shooting is
decaied and laid in bed. But if some of our Englishmen
now lived that served king Edward the third in his warres
• " A prince, who fills the throne with a disputed title, darts not arm
his subjects; the only method of sccnrine; a people fully, both against
domestic oppression, and foreign conquest." Humes Ussays, (" Of the
Protestant succession.")
t Flemings.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
xlv
with France, the breech* of such a varlet should have beene
nailed to his bum with one arrow, and an other fethered in
his bowels, before he should have turned about to see who
shot the first." (p. 198.) Bishop Latimer, in his sixth sermon
before K. Edward VI. gives an interesting account how the
sons of yeomen were, in his infancy, trained up to the bow.
" But now," says he, " we have taken up whooring in townes,
instead of shooting in the tieldes."
(N)
" All clad in Lincoln green — "]
This species of cloth is mentioned by Spenser (Faerie queene,
VI. ii. 5.)
" All in a woodmans jacket lie was clad
Of Lincolne greene, belay'd with silver lace ;
And on his head an hood with aglets spiad,
And by his side his hunters hoiue he hanging had."
It is likewise noticed by our poet himself, in another place:
" Swains in shepherds gray, and gyrles in Lincolne greene." t
See Polyolbion, song XXV. where tlie marginal note says,
" Lincolne anciently dyed the best green in England." Thus
Coventrj' had formerly the reputation of dying the best blue.
See Rays Proverbs, p. 178. Kendal greene is equally famous,
and appears to have been cloth of a similar quality. This
colour was adopted by foresters to prevent their being too
readyly discovered by the deer. See Sir John Wynnes His-
tory of Uie Guedir family, (Barringtons Miscellanies,) p. 419.
Thus tlie Scotish highlanders used to wear brown plaids to
• Breeches.
t Thus also in part IT. ballad 1.
" She got on her holyday kirtlc and gown,
They were of a light Lincolne green."
Xlvi NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
prevent their being distins:uislied among the heath. It is
needless to obser\'e tliat green has ever been the favourite
dress of an archer, hunter, &c. See note (UD).* We now
call it a Saxon or grass green :
" His coat is of a Saxon green, his waistcoat's of a plaid." O. song.
Lincoln green was well known in France in or before the
thirteentli century. Thus, in an old fabliau, transprosed by
M. Le Grand (Fabliaux ou contes, iv. 13.) " II mit done
son surcot fourre d'ecureuil, et sa belle robe d'Estanfortteinte
en verd." Estanfort is Stamford, in Lincolnshire.! This
cloth is, likewise, often mentioned by tlie old Scotish poets
under the names of Lincum licht, Lincum twyne, &c. and
appears to have been in universal request : and yet, notwith-
standing this cloud of evidence, Mr, Pinkerton has had the
confidence to assert that " no particular cloth was ever made
at Lincoln." (See Ancient Scotish poems, ii. 430.) But,
indeed, tliis worthy gentleman, as Johnson said of Goldsmith,
only stumbles upon truth by accident.
• In the sign of The green man and still, we perceive a huntsman, in
a green coat, standing by the side of a still ; in alltsion, as it has been
facetiously conjectured, to the parliality shewn by that description of
gentry to a morning dram. The genuine representation, however, should
be the green-man, (or man who deals in green herbs,) with a bundle of
pepper-mint, or penny-royal, under his arm, which he brings to have
distilled.
And farewell all gaie garments now,
With jewels riche of rare devise :
Like Robin Hood, I wot not how,
I must goe raunge in woodmens wyse,
Cladde in a cole of grcene or gray.
And gladde to get it if i maye.
The workes of a young wyt. Done by N. B. Gent. 1577, 4to. b. I.
t There appears, however, to be a town of this name in Flanders, which
may be tlie place here meant. The above conjecture, therefore, will be
received for no more than it is worth.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. xlvii
(O)
" From wealthy abbots chests, &c."]
" But who," exclaims Dr. Fuller, having cited this pass^e,
" made him a judge ? or gave him a commission to take
where it might be best spared, and give where it was most
wanted ?" That same power, one may answer, which au-
thorises kings to take where it can be worst spared, and give
it where it is least wanted. Our hero, in this respect, was a
knight-errant ; and wanted no other commission than that of
Justice, whose cause he militated. His power, compared
with tliat of the king of England, was, by no means, either
equally usurped, or equally abused : the one reigned over
subjects (or slaves) as a master (or tjTant), the other possessed
no authority but what was delegated to him by the free suf-
frage of his adherents, for their general good : and, as for the
rest, it would be absurd to blame in Robin what we should
praise in Richard.* The latter, too, warred in remote parts
of the world against nations from which neither he nor his
subjects had sustained any injury; the former at home against
those to whose wealth, avarice, or ambition, he might fairly
attribute not only his own misfortunes, but the misery of the
oppressed and enslaved society he had quitted. In a word,
every man who has the power has also the authority to pursue
the ends of justice, to regulate the gifts of fortune, by trans-
fering the superfluities of the rich to the necessities of the
poor ; by relieving the oppressed, and even, when necessary,
destroying the oppressor. Tliese are the objects of tlie social
* When Bnlas, or Felix, the robber, was brought before Papinian, the
latter asked him why he gave himself np to robbing and spoiling : " And
why, sir," was the answer, " are you ' a governor.'" See Dio Cassius
in Severus.
" Because I do that," said the pirate to Alexander, " with a single
ship which thou dost with a great fleet, I am called a thief, and thou art
called a king,"
Xlviii NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
union, and every individual may, and to the utmost of his
power should, endeavour to promote them. Had our Robin
Hood been, like INI'Donald of Barrisdale, a reader of \'irgiJ,
he, as well as that gallant chief, might have inscribed on his
baldric,
" Hre tibi ciuiit artes; pacis componere mores,
Parceic subjcctis, <jl debullaie superbos."*
(*0) " But it is to be remembered," &c.] The passage
fixim Majors work, which has been already quoted, is here
given entire, (except as to a single sentence introduced in
another place). " Circa haec tempoi-a [s. Ricardi I.] ut
auguror, Robertus Iludus & Parvus Joannes latrones fama-
tissimi, in nemoribus latuerunt, solum opulentum virorum
bona diripientes. Nullum nisi eos invadentem vel resistentem
pro suarum rerum tuitione occiderunt. Centum sagitlarios
ad pugnam aptissimos Robertus latrociniis aluit quos 400
viri fortissimi invadere non audebant. Faeminam nullum
opprimi permisit, nee pauperum bona sunipuit, verum eos
• See Pennants Tour in Scotland MDCCLXXII. part I. p. 404. The
original reading, wliether altered by mistake or design, is —
" pacisque imponere morem."
One might, to the same purpose, address our hero in tlie words of
Plautus ; (Trinummus, Act IV. scene i.)
" Atque hanctuam gloriam jam ante auribus accepcram, ct nobiles apud
homines,
Paupcribus te parccre solitum, divites damnare atque domare.
Abi, laiido. scis ordine, ut a>quom'st,
Traclare homines, hoc dls dignum'st, semper mendiiis modesti sint."
" I've heard before
This commendation of you, and from great ones.
That you were wont to spare the indigent.
And crush the wealthy. — 1 applaud your justice
In treating men according to their merits. —
'Tis worthy of the gods to liave respect
Unto the poor."
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. xlix
ex abbatum bonis ablatis opipare pavit. Viri rapinara im-
probo sed latronum omnium humanissimus & princeps erat."
(Majoris Britanniae historia. Edin. 1740, p. 128.)
Stowe, in his Annales, 1592, p. 227. gives an almost
literal version of the above passage; Richard Robinson
versifies it ; * and Camden slightly refers to it.
(P) — " has had the honour to be compared to the illus-
trious Wallace, &c."] In the first volume of Pecks intended
supplement to the Monasticon, consisting of collections for
the history of Prsemonstratensian monasteries, now in the
British-museum, is a very curious riming Latin poem, with
the following title : " Prioris Alnwicensis de bello Scotico
apud Dumbarr, tempore rigis Edwardi I. dictamen sive
rithmus Latinus, quo de Willielmo Wallace, Scotico illo
Robin Whood,plura sed invidiosecanit:" and in the margin
are the following date and reference : 22. Julii 1304. 32. E.
1. Regist. Prem. fol. 59. a." Tliis, it may be observed, is
the first known instance of our heros name being mentioned
by any writer whatever; and affords a strong and respectable
proof of his early popularity.
(Q) — « the abbot of St. IMarys in York"] " In the year
1088 Alan earl of Richmond founded here a stately abbey
* " Richard Coeiir de Lyon cald a king and conquerour was.
With Phillip king of France who did unto Jerusalemm passe :
In this kings time was Robyn Hood, that archer and outlawe,
And little John his partener eke, unto them which did drawe
One hondred tall and good archers, on whom fouie hondred men,
Were their power never so strong, could not give onset then ;
The abbots, monkes, and carles rich these onely did molest,
And reskewd woemen when they saw of theeves them so opprest;
Restoring poore mens goods, and eke abundantly releeved
Poore travellers which wanted food, or were with sicknes greeved."
(Third assertion, &c. (quoted elsewhere.)
1
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
for black monks to tlie honour of St. Olave ; but it was after-
wards dedicated to the blessed virgin by the command of
king William Rufus. Its yearly revenues at the suppression
amounted to 1.550/. 7*-. 9d. Dugd. 2850/. Is. 5d. Speed."
Willis's Mitred abbeys, i. 214. The abbots in our heros
time were —
Robert de Ilarpsham (el. 1184) ob. 1198.
Robert de Longo Campo. ob. 1239.
William Rondele. ob. 1244.
Tlio. de Wharterhille. ob. 1258.
(R) — '* the sheriff of Nottinghamshire"] Ralph Murdach
was sherif of Derby and Nottinghamshires in the 1 st year of
king Richard I. and for the 7 years preceding, and William
Brewerre in his 6th year, between which and the 1st no name
appears on the roll. See Fullers Worthies, &c.
In tlie year 1 195, Hubert archbishop of Canterbury, jus-
ticiary of all England, sent throughout the kingdom this form
of oatli : that all men of the realm of England would keep
the peace of the lord the king to their power ; and that tliey
would neitlier be thieves nor robers, nor the receivers of
such, nor consent to them in any thing ; and that when they
were able to know such-like malefactors, they would take
them to the utmost of their power, and deliver them to tlie
sheriff; who in no wise should be delivered unless by the lord
the king or his chief justice ; and if unable to take them,
they should cause the bailiffs of the lord the king to know who
they were : and, cry being raised for pursuing outlaws, rol)-
bers, theives, or their receivers, all should fully do that suit to
the utmost of their power, &c. Knights were to be assigned
for these purposes, and men chosen and faithful were sent to
execute them in everj- county, who by the oatli of true men
of tlie vicinages took many and put them in the kings prisons ;
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. ll
but many, being forewarned, and conscious of evil, left their
houses and possessions, and fled. (Ji.de Hovedeji, p. 757.)
(S) — " an anecdote preserved by Fordun, &c."] " De quo
eciam qusedam commendabiha recitantur, sicut patuit in hoc,
quod cum ipse quondam in Bai-nisdale iram [f. ob iram]
regis & fremitum principis, missam, ut solitus erat, devotissime
audiret, nee aliqua necessitate volebat interrumpere officium,
quadam die cum audiret missam, a quodam vicecomite &
ministris regis, ssepius per prius ipsum infestantibus, in ilia
secretissimo loco nemorali, ubi missae interfuit, exploratus,
venientes ad eum qui de suis hoc perceperunt, ut omni
annisu fugeret suggesserunt, qui, ob reverentiam sacramenti,
quod tunc devotissime venerabatur, omnino facere recusavit.
Sed ceteris suis, ob metum mortis trepidantibus, Robertus
tantum confisus in eum, quem coluit reveritus, cum paucis-
simis, qui tunc forte ei affuerunt, inimicos congressus & eos
de facili devicit, et de eorum spoliis ac redemptione ditatus,
ministros ecclesiae & missas semper in majori veneratione
semper & de post habere praeelegit, attendens quod wlgariter
dictum est:
Hunc deus exaudit, qui missam saepius audit."
J. De Fordun Scotichronicon, a Hearne. Ox. 1722. p. 774.
Tliis passage is found in no otliercopy of Forduns chronicle
than one in the Harleian library. Its suppression in all tlie
rest may be fairly accounted for on the principle which is
presumed to have influenced the conduct of the ancient En-
glish historians. See note (a).
(T) — "a proclamation was published, &c."] " The king att
last," says the Harleian MS. " sett furth a proclamation to
have him apprehended, &c." Grafton, after having told us
that he " practised robberyes, &c." adds, " The which beyng
certefyed to the king, and he beyng greatly offended there-
with, caused his proclamation to be made that whosoever
Hi NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
would bryng him quicke or dead, the king would geve him a
great summe of money, as by the recordes, in the Exchequer
is to be seene : But of this promise no man enjoyed any
benefite. For the sayd Robert Hood, being afterwai-des
troubled witli sicknesse, &c." (p. 85.) See note (L).
(U) " At length, the infirmities of old age increasing upon
him, &c."] Thus Grafton : " The sayd Robert Hood, beyng
troubled with sicknesse, came to a certain nonry in Yorkshire
called Bircklies [r. Kircklies], where desiryng to be let
blood, he was betrayed and bled to death." Tlie Sloane
MS. says that " [Being] dystempered with could and age,
he had great payne in his lymmes, his bloud being corrupted,
therfore, to be eased of his payne by letting bloud, he repayred
to the priores of Kyrkesly, which some say was his aunt, a
woman very skylful in pliysique & surgery ; who, perceyving
him to be Robyn Hood, Sc waying hcwe fel an enimy he
was to religious persons, toke reveng of him for her owne
howse and all others by letting him bleed to deatli. It is
also sayd that one sir Roger of Doncaster, bearing grudge to
Robyn for some injury, incyted tlie priores, with wliome he
was very familiar, in such a maner to dispatch him." See
the Lytell geste of Robyn Hode, ad finem. The Harleian
MS. after mentioning the proclamation " sett furth to have
him apprehended" adds, " at which time it happened he fell
sick at a nunnery in Yorkshire called Birkleys [r. Kirkleys] ;
& desiring there to be let blood, hee was beytrayed & made
bleed to death."
Kirkleys, Kirklees or Kirkleghes, formerly Ruthale, in the
deanry of Pontefract, and archdeaconry of the west riding of
Yorkshire, was a Cistercian, or, as some say, a Benedictine
nunnery, founded, in honour of the virgin Maiy and St.
James, by Reynerus Flandrensis in the reign of king Henry
II. Its revenues at the dissolution were somewhat about
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. lui
£.20 and the site was granted (36 Hen. 8.) to John Tasburgh
and Henry Savill,froin whom it came to one of the ancestors
of Sir George Armytage bart. the present possessor. The re-
mains of the building (if any) are very inconsiderable, and
its register has been searched after in vain. See Tanners
Notitia, p. 674. Thoresbys Ducatus Leodiensis, p. 91.
Hearnes " Account of several antiquities in and about the
miiversity of Oxford," at the end of Lelands Itinerary, vol.
• ii. p. 128.
In 1706 was discovered, among the ruins of the nunnery,
the monument of Elisabeth de Staynton prioress ; but it is
not certain that this was tlie lady from whom our hero ex-
perienced such kind assistance. See Thoresby and Hearne
ubi supra.
" One may wonder," says Dr. Fuller, " how he escaped
the hand of justice, dying in his bed, for ought is found to the
contrary ; but it was because he was rather a merry than a
mischievous thief (complementing passengers out of their
purses) never murdering any but deer, and . . . . ' feasting'
the vicinage with his venison." (Worthies, p. 320.) See the
following note.
(V) " He was interred under some trees at a short distance
from the house; a stone being placed over his grave with an
inscription to his memory. " Kirkley monasterium monialium,
ubi Ro : Hood nobilis ille exlex sepultus." Lelands Collec-
tanea, i. 54. " Kirkleys Nunnery, in the Woods whereof
Robin Hoods grave is, is between Halifax and Wakefield
upon Calder." Letter firom Jo. Savile to W. Camden, Illus.
viro epis. 1691.
as Caldor comes along,
It chancd she iu her course on ' Kirkley' cast her eye,
Where merry Robin Hood, that honest thief, doth lie."
(Poly-Olbion, Song 28.)
VOL. I. 6
liv NOTES AND ILLUSTUATIONS.
See also Camdens Britannia, 1695, p. 709.
In the second volume of Dr. Stukeleys Itinerarium curiosum
is an engraving of " tlie prospect of Kirkley's abby, where
Robin Hood dyed, from the footway leading to Ileartishead
church, at a quarter of a mile distance. A. The New Hall.
B. The Gatehouse of the Nunnciy. C. T\\e trees among
which Robin Hood was buryed. D. The way up the Hill
were this was drawn. E. Bradley wood. F. Almondbury
hill. G. Castle field. Drawn by Dr. Johnston among his •
Yorksliire antiquitys. p. 54. of tlie drawings. E. Kirkall,
sculp." It makes plate 99 of the above work, but is un-
noticed in the letter press.
According to the Sloanc MS. the prioress, after " letting
him bleed to death, buryed him under a great stone by the
hywayes syde :" which is agreeable to the account in Graftons
chronicle, where it is said that, after his death, " the prioresse
of the same place caused him to be buried by the highway-
side, wliere he had used to rob and spoyle those that passed
that way. A nd vpon his grave the sayde prioresse did lay a
very fayre stone, wherein the names of Robert Hood, William
of Goldesborougl;, and others were graven. And the cause
why she buryed him there was, for that the common passengers
and travailers, knowyng and seeyng him there buryed, might
more safely and without feare take their jorneys that way,
which they durst not do in die life of the sayd outlawes.
And at eyther ende of flie sayde tombe was erected a crosse
of stone, which is to be scene there at this present."
" Near unto ' Kirklees' the noted Robin Hood lies buried
under a grave-stone that yet remains near the park, but tlie
inscription scarce legible." Thoresbys Ducatus Leodiensis,
fo. 1715, p. 91. In the Appendix, p, 576. is the following
note, with a reference to " page 91 :"
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Iv
" Amongst the papers of the learned Dr. Gale, late dean
of Yorke, was found this epitaph of Robin Hood :
Hear untrfrnrati tris laiti stfait
latf robf rt carl of l^untingtuu
tifa arcir brr af ffit sa gcutr
an ptpl ftaultr tm rotin l^ruii
sicfe tttlalDf a? fjt an ij mm
bil rnglanir nibr si agni.
otiit 24 [r. 14] Sal iif&mtris 1247.
The genuineness of this epitaph has been questioned. Dr.
Percy, in the first edition of his " Reliques of ancient En-
glish poetry," (1765,) says " It must be confessed this
epitaph is suspicious, because in the most ancient poems of
Robin Hood, there is no mention of this imaginary earldom."
Tliis reason, however, is by no means conclusive, the most
ancient poem now extant having no pretension to the antiquity
claimed by the epitaph : and indeed the doctor himself
should seem to have aftei-ward had less confidence in it, as,
in both the subsequent editions, those words are omitted
and the learned critic merely observes that the epitaph ap-
pears to him suspicious. It will be admitted that the bare
suspicion of this ingenious writer, whose knowledge and
judgment of ancient poetry are so conspicuous and eminent,
ought to have considerable weight. As for the present
editors part, though he does not pretend to say that the lan-
guage of this epitaph is that of Henry the thirds time, nor
indeed to determine of vi'hat age it is, he can perceive nothing
in it from whence one should be led to pronounce it spurious,
i. e. that it was never inscribed on the grave-stone of Robin
Hood. That there actually was some inscription upon it
in Thoresbys time, though then scarce legible, is evident
from his own words : and it shoidd be remembered, as well
Ivi NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
that the last century was not the Jera of imposition, as that
Dr. Gale was botli too good and too learned a man either to
be capable of it himself or to be liable to it from others.
That industrious chronologist and topographer, as well as
respectable artist and citizen, master Tliomas Gent, of York,
in his " List of religious houses," annexed to " The ancient
and modem state of" that famous city, 1730, l-2mo. p. 234.
informs us that he had been told, " Tliat his [Robin Hoods]
tombstone, having his effigy thereon, was order'd, not many
years ago, by a certain knight to be placed as a haith-stone
in his great hall. When it was laid over-night, the next morn-
ing it was ' surprizingly ' removed [on or to] one side ; and
so three times it was laid, and as successively turned aside.
The knight, thinking he had done wrong to have brought it
thither, order'd it should be drawn back again ; which was
performed by a pair of oxen and four horses, when twice the
number could scarce do it before. But as this," adds the
sagacious writer, " is a story only, it is left to the reader, to
judge at pleasure." N.B. Tins is the second instance of a
miracle wrought in favour of our hero !
In Coughs Sepulchral monuments, p. cviii. is " the figure
of the stone over the grave of Robin Hood [in Kirklees park,
being a plain stone with a sort of cross fleuree thereon] now
broken and much defaced, the inscription illegible. Tliat
printed in Thoresby Ducat. Leod. 576, firom Dr. Gale's
papers was never on it.* Tlie late sir Samuel Armitage,
• That this epitaph had been printed, or was well known, at least,
lon^ before the publication of Mr. Thoresbys book, if not before either
he or Dr. Gale was born, appears from (he " true tale of Robin Hood"
by Martin Parker, written, if not printed, as early as 1631. (See volume
I. p. 127.) That dates, about this period, were frequently by ides and
kalends, see Madoxes Formulare Anyliranum, (Dissertation), p. xxx.
Even Arabic lii;ures are produced in some of still greater antiiiuily, see
Collectanea de rebvs Hibernwit, ii. 331. Robert Groslhe.id bishop of
Lincoln makes use of these figures about tile year 1240. Astles Uriijhi
ofwritijii/, p. 188.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Ivil
owner of the premises, caused the ground under it to be dug
a yard deep, and found it had never been disturbed ; so
that is was probably brought from some other place, and by
vulgar tradition ascribed to Robin Hood" (refers to " Mr.
Watsons letter in Antiquary society minutes"). This is pro-
bably the tomb-stone of Elisabeth de Staynton, mentioned in
the preceding note.
The old epitaph is, by some anonymous hand, in a work
entitled " Sepulchrorum inscriptiones ; or a curious collection
of 900 of the most remarkable epitaphs." Westminster, 1727,
(vol. ii. p. 73.) thus not inelegantly paraphrased :
" Here, underneath this little stone.
Thro' Death's assaults, now lieth one.
Known by the name of Robin Hood,
Who was a thief, and archer good ;
Full thirteen years, and something more.
He robb'd the rich to feed the poor :
Therefore, his grave bedew with tears.
And offer for his soul your prayers."*
(W) " Various dramatic exliibitions."] The earlyest of
these performances now extant is, " The playe of Robyn
Hode, very proper to be played in Maye games," which is
inserted in tlie appendix to this work, and may probably be
as old as the 15th century. That a different play, however,
on the same subject has formerly existed, seems pretty certain
from a somewhat curious passage in " The famous chronicle
of king Edward the first, sirnamed Edward Longshankes,
&c." by George Peele, printed in 1393.
* In "The travels of Tom Thumb over England and Wales" [by Mr.
Robert Dodsley], p. 106. is another though inferior version.
" Here, imder this memorial stone.
Lies Robert earl of Huntingdon ;
As he, no archer e'er was good.
And people call'd him Robin Hood :
Such outlaws as his men and he
Again may England never see."
Iviii NOTES AND ILLUSTllATIONS.
" Lluellen wecle get tlie next dale from Brecknocke the booke
of Robin Hood, the frier lie sliall instruct ns in liis raiise, and weele
even here . . . wander like irregulers up and down the wilderncssc, ile
be maister of misrule, ile be Robin Hood that once, cousin ' Rice ', thou
shalt be little John, and hers frier David, as fit as a die for frier Tucke.
Now, my sweet Nel, if you will make up the messe with a good heart
for maide Marian, and doe well with Lluellen under the green-woode
trees, with as good a wil as in the good townes, why plena est curia.
[Exeunt.
Enter Mortimor, solus.
Mortimor Maisters, have after geutle Robin Hood,
You are not so well accompanied I hope,
Bui if a potter come to plaie his part,
Youle give him stripes or welcome good or worse. [Exit.
Enter Lluellen, Meredith, frier, Elinor, and their traine. They are all
clad in greene, &c. sing, <Src» Blyth and bonny, the song ended, Lluellen
speaketh.
Luelleu. Why so, I see, my mates of olde.
All were not lies that Bedlams [beldams] told;
Of Robin Hood and little John,
Frier Tucke and maide Marian."
Mortimer, as a potter, afterwards fights the frier -witli
" flailes."
2. " The downfall of Robert earle of Huntington, after^vard
called Robin Ilood of merrie Sherwodde : with his love to
chaste Matilda, the lord Fitzwaters daughter, afterwardes his
feire maide Marian. Acted by the right honourable, tlie earle
of Notingham, lord high admirall of England, his ser^'ants.
^ Imprinted at London, for William Leake, 1601." 4to.
b. 1.
3. " Tlie death of Robert, earle of Huntington, otherwise
called Robin Hood of men-ie Sherwodde : witli the lament-
able tragedie of chaste Matilda, his faire maid Marian, poy-
soned at Dunmowc, by king John. Acted, &.c. 1[ Imprinted
&c. [as above] 1601." 4to. b. 1.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
lix
Tliese two plays, usually called the first and second part
of Robin Hood, were always, on the authority of Kirkman,
falsely ascribed to Tliomas Heywood, till Mr. Malone fortu-
nately retrieved the names of the true authors, Anthony
Mundy and Henry Chettle.* As they seem partly founded
on traditions long since forgotten, and refer occasionally to
documents not now to be found, at any rate, as they are
much older than most of the common ballads upon the sub-
ject, and contain some curious and possibly authentic parti-
culars not elsewhere to be met with, the reader will excuse
the particularity of the account and length of the extracts
here given.
The first part, or downfall of Robert earle of Huntington,
is supposed to be performed at the court and command of
Henry the 8th ; the poet Skelton being die dramatist, and
acting the part of chorus. The introductory scene commences
thus :
" Enter sir John Eltam, and knocke at Skeltons doore.
Sir John. Howe, maister Skelton ! what, at stiulie hard ?
[opens the doore.
Skclt. Welcome and wisht for, honest sir John ElCam, —
Twill trouble you after your great atl'airs,
[i. e. the surveying of certain maps which his majesty had
employed him in;
* In " a large folio volume of accounts kept by Mr. Philip Henslowc,
who appears to have been proprietor of the Rose theatre near the Banksidc
in Southwark," he has entered —
ISQt'^S " ^''^ *''^^' P""^' °^ Robin Hood, by Anthony Mundy.
The second part of the downfall of earl Huntington, sirnaraed
Robinhood, by Anthony Mundy and Henry Chettle."
In a subsequent page is the following entry : " Lent unto Robarte
Shawe, the 18 of Novemb. 1598, to lend unto Mr. Cheatlle, upon the
mending of the first part of Robart Hoode, the sum of xs." and afterwards
— " For mending of Robin Hood for the corte." See Malones edition
of " The plays and poems of AVilliain Shakspeare," 1790, vol. i. part II.
(Emendations and additions.)
Ix NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
To take the paine that I intended to iiitreate you to.
About rchearsall of your promis'd play.
Elt. Nay.iiiaster Skeltoii ; for the kins; bimselfe.
As wee were partins;, bid mee take great lieede
Wee faile not of our day : therefore I pray
Scnde for the rest, that now we may rehearse.
Skel. O they are readie all, and drest to play.
What part play you?
Elt. Why, I play little John,
And came of purpose with this greene sutc.
Skel. Holla, my masters, little John is come.
[At every doore all the players runne out ; some crying where? where 1
others, Welcome, sir John : amony other the boyes and clowne.
Skel. Faith, little Tracy, you are somewhat forward.
What, our .(laid Marian leaping like a lad !
If you remember, Robin is your love.
Sir Thomas Mantle yonder, not sir John.
Clow. But, master, sir J^hn is my fellowe, for I am Much the millers
Sonne. Am I not ?
Skel. I know yee are sir:—
And, gentlemen, since you are thus prepar'd,
Goe in, and bring your dumbe scene on the stage,
And I, as prologue, purpose to expresse
The ground whereon our historie is laied. [Exeunt, manet Skelton.
Trumpets sounde, [1] eriter first kiny Richard with drum and auncient,
giving Ely a purse and sceptre, his mother and brother John, Chester,
Lester, Lacie, others at the kings appointment, doing reverence. The
king goes in : presently Ely ascend.i the chaire, Chester, John, and the
queene part displeasantly. [2] A'tt^erRoBERT, ear le of Huntington,
leading Marian; folloues himli arman, and after M arm an, the prior;
Warman ever faltering and making ciirtsie, taking gifts of the prior
behinde and his master before. Prince John enters, ojf'ereth to take
Marian; Queen Elinor enters, offering to jmll Robin from her; but they
infolde each other, and sit doivne within the curteines. [3] Jf'artnan
with the prior, sir Hugh Lacy, lord Sentloe, and sir (lilbert liroghtun
folde hands, and drawing the curteins, all {but the prior) enter, and
are kindely received by Robin Hoode."
During the exliibition of the second part of the dumb-
shew, Skelton instructs the audience as follows :
" This youth that leads yon virgin by the lian<l
Is our carle Robert, or jour Robin Hoode,
That in those dales, was earle of Huntington;
The ill-fac't mi.ser, brib'd in cither hand.
Is Warman, once the steward of his house.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Ixi
Who, Judas like, betraies his liberall lord,
Into the hands of that relentlesse prior,
Calde Gilbert Hoodc, nncle to Huntington.
Those two that seeke to part these lovely friends.
Are Elenor the qiieene, and John the prince.
She loves earle Robert, he maide Marian,
But vainely; for their deare affect is such,
As only death can sunder their true loves.
Long had tney lov'd, and now it is agreed.
This day they must be troth-plight, after wed :
At Huutingtons faire house a feast is lielde.
But envie turnes it to a house of teares.
For those false guestes, conspiring with the prior ;
To whom carle Robert greatly is in debt,
Meane at the banquet to betray the earle,
Unto a heavie writ of outlawry:
The manner and escape you all shall see.
Looke to your entrance, get you in, sir John.
My shift is long, for I play frier Tucke ;
Wherein, if Skelton hath but any lucke,
Heele thanke his hearers oft with many a ducke.
For many talk of Robin Hood that never shot in his bowe,
But Skelton writes of Robin Hood what he doth truly knowe."
After some Skeltonical rimes, and a scene betwixt the
prior, the sherif, and justice Warman, concerning the out-
lawry, which appears to be proclaimed, and the taking of
earl Huntington at dinner, " Enter Robin Hoode, little John
following him ; Robin having his napkin on his shoulder, as
if hee were sodainly raised from dinner." He is in a violent
rage at being outlawed, and Little John endeavours to pacify
him. Marian being distressed at his apparent disorder, he
dissembles with her. After she is gone, John thus addresses
him:
" Now must your honour leave these mourning tunes.
And thus by my areede you shall provide;
Your plate and jewels ' i wil' straight packe up,
And toward Notingham convey them hence.
At Rowford, Sow tham, Wortley, Hothersfield,
Of all your cattell mony shall be made.
And I at Mansfield w ill attend your comming ;
Where weele determine which waie's best to take.
Ixii NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Rob. Well, be it so ; a gods name, let it be ;
And if I can, Marian shall come with mcc.
John. Else care will kill her; therefore if jou please.
At th' utmost corner of the garden wall,
Soone in the evening waite for Marian,
And as I goc i!e tell her of the place.
Your horses at the Bell shall readie bee,
I meane Belsavage,* whence, as citizens
That ' meane ' to ride for pleasure some smrll way,
You shall set foorth."
Tlie company now enters, and Robin charges them with
the conspiracy, and rates their treacherous proceeding. Little
John in attempting to remove the goods is set upon by ^\ ar-
man and the sherif ; and during the fray " Enter prince John,
Ely and the prior, and others." Little John tells the prince,
he but defends the box containing his own gettings; upon
which his royal highness observes,
" You do the fellow WTong; his goods are his :
You only must extend upon the carles.
Prior. That was, my lord, but nowe is Robert Hood,
A simple yeoman as his servants were."
Ely gives the prior his commission, with directions to make
speed, lest " in his country-houses all his beards be solde ;"
and gives Warman a patent " for the high sheriffewick of
Nottingham." After this, " Enter Robin like a citizen ; and
then the queen and Marian disguised for each other. Robin
takes Marian, and leaves the queen to prince John, who is
so much enraged at the deception that he breaks the head of
Elys messenger. Sir Hugh, brotlier to lord Lacy, and stew-
* That is, the inn so called, upon Ludgatehill. The modern sign, which
however seems to have been the same 200 years ago, is a bell and a wild
man ; but the original is supposed to have been a beautiful Indian ; and
the inscri])tion, La belle sauvage. Some, indeed, assert that the inn
once belonged to a lady Arabella Savage ; and others, that its name,
originally The bell and savage, arose (like The George and blue boar) from
the Junction of two inns, with those respective signs. Non nostrum est
lantas componere lites.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. IxHl
ard to Ely, who had been deeply concerned in Huntingtons
ruin is killed in a brawl, by prince John, whom Ely orders
to be arrested; but the prince, producing letters from the
king, revoking Elys appointment, " lifts up his drawne
sworde" and " Exit, cum Lester and Lacy," in triumph.
Then, " Enter Robin Hoode, Matilda, at one door, litde
John, and Much the millers sonne at another doore." After
mutual congratulations, Robin asks if it be
" possible that Warmans spite
Should stretch so farre, that he doth hunt the lives
Of bonnie Scarlet, and his brother Scathlock.
Mrcch. O, I, sir. Warman came but yesterday to take charge of the
jaile at Notinghara, and this dale, he saies, he will hang the two out-
lawes. . . .
Rob. Now, by my honours hope, . . .
He is too blame : say, John, where must they die ?
John. Yonder's their mothers house, and here the tree.
Whereon, poore men, they must forgoe their lives;
And yonder comes a lazy lozell frier.
That is appointed for their confessor.
Who, when we brought your monie to their mothers,
Was wishing her to patience for their deaths."
Here " Enter frier Tucke ;" some conversation passes, and
the fiier skeltonizes ; after which he departs, saying,
" let us goe our way.
Unto this hanging businesse; would for mee
Some rescue or repreeve might set them free.
Rob. Heardst thou not, little John, the friers speacht
John. He seemes like a good fellow, my good lord.
Rob. He's a good fellowe, John, upon my word.
Lend me thy home, and get thee in to Much,
And when 1 blowe this home, come both and heipe mee.
John. Take heed, my lord : the villane Warman knows you.
And ten to one, he hath a writ against you.
Rob. Fear not : below the bridge a poor blind man doth dwell.
With him I will change my habit, and disguise,
Only be readic when I call for yee.
For I will save their lives, if it may bee. . . .
Ixiv NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Enter Warman, Scarlet and Scathhck bounde, frier Tuck as their
confesior, officers with halberts.
TVar. Master frier, be briefe, delay no time.
Scarlet and Scatlock, never hope for life ;
Here is tlie place of execution,
And you must answer lawe for what is done.
■year. Well, if there be no remedie, we must :
Though it ill seemeth, Warman, thou shouldst bee.
So bloodie to pursue our lives thus cruellic.
Scat. Our mother savM thee from the gallows, Warman,
His father did preferre thee to thy lord:
One mother had wee both, and both our fathers
To thee and to thy father were kinde friends. . . .
If'ar. Ye were first outlawcs, then ye proved thceves. . . .
Both of your fathers were good honest men ;
Your mother lives their widowe in good fame :•
But you are scapethrifts, unthrifts, villanes, knaves.
And as ye liv'd by shifts, shall die with shame."
To them enters Ralph, the sherifs man, to acquaint him that
the carnifex, or executor of the law, had fallen off his " curtail"
and was " cripplefied" and rendered incapable of performing
his office ; so that the sherif was to become his deputy. The
sherif insists that Ralph shall serve the turn, which he refuses.
In the midst of the altercation, " Enter Robin Hoode, like an
old man," who tells the sherif that the two outlaws had mur-
dered his young son, and undone himself; so that for revenge
sake he desires they may be delivered to him. They denying
the charge, " Robin whispers vdth them," and \vith the sherifs
leave, and his mans help, unbinds them : then, sounds his
horn ; and " Enter little .Tohn, Much . . . Fight ; the frier,
making as if he helpt the sheriffe, knockes down his men,
crying, Keepe the kings peace. Sheriffe [perceiving that it is
" the outlawed earle of Huntington"] runnes away, and his
* She is called the widow Scarlet ; so that Scatlilocke was the elder
brother. In fact, however, it was mere i;inorance in the author to sup-
pose the Scathlocke and Scarlet of the story distinct persons, the latter
name being an evident corruption of the former; ScallUock, Scadlock,
Scarlock, Scarlet.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. IxV
men." (See the ballad of " Robin Hood rescuing the widows
sons," part II. num. xxiii.)
" Fri. Farewell, earle Robert, as I am true frier,
I had rather be thy claike, then serve the prior.
Hob. A jolly fellowe! Scarlet, knowest thou him?
Scar. Hee is of Yorke, and of Saint Maries cloister;
There where your greedie uncle is lord prior. . . .
Rob. Here is no biding, masters ; get yee in. . . .
John, on a sodaine thus I am resolv'd.
To keepe in Sherewoodde tille the kings retnrue,
And being outlawed, leade an outlawes life. . . .
John. 1 like your honours purpose exceeding well.
Bob. Nay, no more honour, I pray thee, little John ;
Henceforth I will be called Robin Hoode,
Matilda shall be my maid Marian."
Tlien follows a scene betwixt old Fitzwater and prince
John, in the course of which the prince, as a reason to induce
Fitzwater to recall his daughter INIatilda, tells him that she is
li\dng in an adulterous state, for that
"—Huntington is excommunicate,
And till his debts be paid, by Romes decree.
It is agreed, absolv'd he caunot be ;
And that can never be.— So never wife," &c.
Fitzwater, on this, flies into a passion, and accuses the prince
of being already marryed to " earle Chepstowes daughter."
They " fight; John falles." Tlien enter the queen, &c. and
John sentences Fitzwater to banishment : after which, " Enter
Scathlocke and Scarlet, winding their homes, at severall
doores. To them enter Robin Hoode, IMatilda, all in greene,
. . . Much, little John; all the men with bowes and arrowes.*
* In " The booke of the inventary of the goods of my lord admeralles
men tacken the 10 of Marche in the yeare 1598," are the following proper-
ties for Robin Hood and his retinue, in this identical play :
" Item, . . . . i green gown for Maryan.
Item, vi grene cottes for Roben Hoode, and iiii knaves sewtes.
Itein, i halte for Robin Hoode, i hobihorse.
Item, Roben Hoodes sewtle.
Item, the fryers trusse in Roben Hoode."
Malones Shak. II. ii. (Emen. & ad.)
IXVl NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Hob. Wind once inoic, jolly huntsmen, all yonr liorns.
Whose shrill 5onn(i, with the ecchoins; wods assist.
Shall ring a sad knell for the fearefidl deere,
Before onr feathered shafts, deaths winged darts,
Bring sodaine summons for their fatall ends.
Scar. Its ful seavcn years since we were outlawed first.
And wealthy Sherewood was our heritage :
For all those yeares we raigned uncontrolde,
From Barnsdale shrogs to Notinghanis red cliffes.
At Blithe and Tickhill were we welcome guests :
Good George a Greene at Bradford was our friend.
And wanton Wakeficlds pinner lov'd us well.*
At Barnsley dwcls a potter, tongh and strong.
That ne%er brookt we brethren should have wrong.
The nunnes of Farnsficld (pretty nuiines they bee)
Gave napkins, shirts, and bands to him and mce.
Bateman of Kendall gave us Kendall greene ;
And Sharpe of Leedes sharpe anows for us made.
At Rotlierham dwelt our bowycr, god him blisse,
Jackson he hight, his bowes did never misse.
This for our goode, our scathe let Scathlocke tell,
In merry Mansfield how it once befell.
ScatJi. In merry Mansfield, on a wrestling day,
Prizes there were, and yeomen came to play.
My brother Scarlet and niyselfe were twainc ;
Many resisted, but it was in vaine.
For of them all we wonne the mastery,
And the gilt wreathes were given to him and me.
Tlicre by sir Doncastcr of ' Hothersfield,'
We were bewraied, beset, and furst to yield ;
And so borne bound, from thence to Notingham,
Where we lay doom'd to death till Warman came.
Some cordial expressions pass between Robin and Matilda.
He commands all the yeomen to be cheerful ; and orders
little John to read the articles.
" Joh. First, no man must presume to call our master.
By name of earle, lorde, baron, knight, or squire :
But simply by tlie name of Robin Hoode.
That faire Matilda henceforth change her name,
' And' by maid Marians name, be only cald.
* George a Greene and Wakefields pinner, were one and the same
person. The shoemaker of Bradford is anonymous.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Ixvii
Thirdly, no yeoman following Robin Hoode
In Sheiewod, shall use widowe, wife, or maid.
But by true labour, lustfull thoughts expell.
Fourthly, no passenger with whom ye meete,
Shall yee let passe till hee with Robin feaste :
Except a poast, a carrier, or such folke,
As use with foode to serve the market towues.
Fiftly, you never shall the poore man wrong.
Nor spare a priest, a usurer, or a clarUe.
Lastly, you shall defend with all your power
Maids, widowes, orphants, and distressed men.
All. All these we vowe to keepe, as we are men.
Rob. Then wend ye to the greencwod merrily.
And let the light roes bootlcsse from yee runne,
Marian and I, as soveraigns of your toyles,
Will wait, within our bower, your bent bowes spoiles.
[Exeunt winding their homes."
In the next scene, we find frier Tucke feignedly entering
into a conspiracy with tlie prior and sir Doncaster, to serve
an execution on Robin, in disguise. Jinny, the widow
Scarlets daughter, coming in, on her way to Sherwood, is
persuaded by the frier to accompany him, " disguised in
habit hke a pedlers mort." Fitzwater enters like an old man :
— sees Robin sleeping on a green bank, Marian strewing
flowers on him ; pretends to be blind and hungxy, and is
regaled by them. In answer to a question why the fair
Matilda (Fitzwaters daughter) had changed her name, Robin
tells him it is
" Because she lives a spotlesse maiden life :
And shall, till Robins outlawe life have ende.
That he may lawfully take her to wife;
Which, if king Richard come, will not be long."
" Enter fiier Tucke and Jinny like pedlers singing," and
afterward " Sir Doncaster and others weaponed." — Tlie frier
discovers the plot, and a fray ensues. The scene then changes
to the court, where the prior is informed of six of his bams
being destroyed by fire, and of the different execrations of all
Ixviii NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
ranks upon him, as tlie undoer of " the good lord Robert,
earle of Iluntiniiton;" that the convent of St. Marys had
elected " Okie father Jerome" prior in his place ; and lastlv
a herald brings his sentence ofbanishment, which is confirmed
by tlie entrance of the prior. Lester brings an account of the
imprisonment of his gallant sovereign, king Richard, by the
duke of Austria, and requires his ransom so be sent. Tie
then introduces a description of his matchless valour in the
holy land. John not only refuses the ransom-money, but
usurps the stile of king : upon which Lester grows furious,
and rates the whole company. Tlie following is part of the
dialogue :
" Joh. {to Lester) Daiest Ihoii aftempt thus proudly in onr sight ?
Lest. What is"t a subject ilaies, that I dare not?
Sals. Dare subjects dare, their soveraigue beiug by 1
Lest- O god, that my true soveraigne were ny !
Qtt. Lester, lie is.
Lest. Madam, by god, you ly.
Chest. Unmamicr'd man.
Lest. A plague of reverence !"
After this, and more on the same subject, the scene returns
to the forest ; where Ely, being taken by Much, " like a
countryman with a basket," is examined and detected by
Robin, who promises hnn protection and service. On their
departure :
" Joh, Skclton, a worde or two beside the play.
Fri. Now, sir John Eltam, what ist you would say,
John. Melhinks I see no jeasts of Robin Hoode,
No merry moricos of frier Tuck,
No pleasant skippin;;s up and downc the wodde.
No liuntini; songs, no conrsing of the biicke :
Pray god this play of ours may have good lucke.
And the king's majestic mislike it not !
Fri. Ami if he doc, what can we doe to that?
I proniis'd him a play of Robin Hoo<le,
His honorable life, in merry Slicrewod ;
His majestic himselfe survaid the plot.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Ixix
And bad me boldly write it, it was good.
For merry jcasis, they have bene showne before :
As how the frier fell into the well,
For love of Jinny, that faire bonny bell :
How Greeneleafe rob'd the shrieve of Notinghain,
And other mirthful matter, full of game."
" Enter Warman banished." He laments his fall, and
applies to a cousin, on whom he had bestowed large pos-
sessions, for relief; but receives nothing, except reproaches
for his treachery to his noble master. The jailor of Notting-
ham, who was indebted to him for his place, refuses him
even a scrap of his dogs meat, and reviles him in the severest
terms. Good-wife Tomson, whose husband he had delivered
from death, to his great joy, promises him a caudle, but
fetches him a halter;* in which he is about to hang himself,
but is prevented by Fitzwater, and some of Robin Hoods
men, who crack a number of jokes upon him : Robin puts
an end to their mockery, and proffers him comfort and
favour. Then enters frier Tucke, with an account of sir
Doncaster and the prior being striped and wounded in their
way to Bawtrey : Robin, out of love to his uncle, hastens to
the place. After this, " Enter prince John, solus, in green,
bowe and arrowes.
John. Why this is somewhat like, now may I sing.
As did the Wakefield pinder in his note ;
At Michaelmas commelh my (-ovenant out,
My master gives me my fee :
Then Robin He weare thy Kendall greene,
And wend to the greenewodde with thee."t
• Which, by the way, nas termed a hempen caudle. See the second
part of K. H. VI. act 4, scene 7. Lord-chance lor Jeffries, at the revo-
lution, was treated much in the same manner. One day, during his con-
finement in the tower, he received a barrel of oysters, upon which he
observed to his keeper, " Well, you see, I liave yet some friends left:"
at the bottom of the barrel, liowexer, he found a halter: wliicli changed
his countenance, and is even thought to have hastened his death.
+ See the baUad of " The jolly pinder of Wakefield," Part IL
Num. in.
VOL. 1. f
IXX NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
He assumes the name of Woodnet, and is detected by Scath-
locke and frier Tucke. The prince and Scathlocke fight,
Scallielocke grows weary, and the fiier takes his place.
Marian enters, and perceivin<i the frier, parts the combatants.
Robin enters, and .lolin submits to him. IMucli enters,
running, witli information of tlie approach of" tlie king and
twelve and twen'ty score of horses." Robin places his people
in order. The trumpets sound, the king and his train enter,
a general pardon ensues, and the king confirms the love of
Robin and INIatilda. Thus the play concludes, Skelton
promising the second part, and acquainting the audience of
what it should consist.
The second part, or death of Robert earle of Huntington,
is a pursuit of the same story. The scene, so far as our
hero is concerned, lyes in Shenvood. A few extracts may
not be unacceptable.
" Sc. iiii. Winde homes. Enter king, queene, &c. Frier
Tuck can-ying a stags head, dauncing." The frier has been
sent for to read the following inscription upon a copper ring
round the stags neck :
" When Harold Haie-foote raigned king.
About my nccke he put this ring."
The king orders " head, ring and all" to be sent to Nottingham
castle, to be kept for monuments. Fitzwater tells him, he
has heard " an olde tale/'
" Tliat Harold, being Goodwins sonne of Kent,*
Hunted for pleasure once within this wood.
And singled out a faire and stately stagge,
Whicli, foote to foote, the king in running caught;
And sure this was the stagge.
King. It was no doubt.
* Fitzwater confonnds one man with another ; Harold Harefoot was
the son and successor of Canute the great.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Ixxi
Chester. But some, my lord, afiirme.
That Julius Ciiesar, many years before,
Toolce such a stagge, and such a poesie writ:"*
Upon which his majesty very sagaciously remarks,
" It should not he in Julius Caesars time :
There was no English used in this land
Untill the Saxons came, and tliis is writ
In Saxon characters."
* This tradition is referred to, and the inscription given in Rays
Itineraries, ir60, p. 153.—" We rode through a bushet or common cal-
led Rodwell-hake, two miles from Leeds, where (according to the \nil£ar
tradition) was once found a stag, with a ring of brass about its neck,
having this inscription :
When Julius Cffisar here was king.
About my neck he put this ring:
Whosoever doth me take,
Let me go for Caesar's sake."
In The midwife, or Old woman's magazine, (vol. i. p. 250.) Mrs.
Midnight, in a letter " To the venerable society of antiquarians,"
containing a description of Caesars camp, on Windsor forest, has the
following passage : " There have been many extraordinary things
discovered about this camp. One thing, I particularly remember, was a
deer of about sixteen hundred years old This deer it seems was
a favourite of Czesar's and on that account he bedecked her neck with a
golden collar and an inscription, which I shall by and by take notice of;
she had been frequently taken, but when the hunters, the peasants and
poor people saw the golden collar on her neck, they readily let her go
again. However, as she continually increased in strength and in hulk,
as well as in age, after the course of about fifteen or sixteen centuries,
the flesh and skin were entirely grown over this collar, so that it could
not bediscover'd till after she was kill'd, and then to the surprize of the
virtuosi, it appear'd with this inscription:
When Julius C»sar reigned here.
Then was I a little deer;
If any man should me take.
Let me go for Cjesar's sake.
" This collar, which is of pure gold, I am told weighs thirty ounces,
and as the blood of the creature stiU appears fresh upon it, I believe it
may be as valuable as any of your gimcracks ; however, there will be no
harm in my sending of it to you ; and if I can procure it, you may de-
pend on my taking the utmost care of it." As no notice is announced
of this wonderful piece of antiquity in the voluminous and important
lucnbratioDS of the above learned body, it most probably never came
Ixxii NOTES AXD ILLUSTRATIONS.
The next quotation may be of service to Dr. Percy, who
has been pleased to question our heros nobihty, because
" the most ancient poems make no mention of this earldom,"
and tlie old legend expressly asserts him " to have been a
yeoman." It is very true; and we shall here not only find
his title established, but also discover the secret of his not
being usually distinguished or designed by it.
into their possession ; which is very much to be lamented, as it would
have been an admirable companion for Hardecnutes chamber-pot, King
Edward thr firsts finger, and other similar curiosities.
Juvenal des Vrsins gravely relates that in the year 1390, a hart was
takecn at Senlis, with a chain about his neck, inscribed " Ccesar hoc
me donavit.'"
Upton, to be even with him, supposes a hart to have been taken at
Baoshot near Windsor, with a motto on the collar in the French
language, which proves the ancient Romans were familiar therewith long
before it existed :
" Julius Ctesar, quant jeo fitis petis,
Cest coler suz man col ad mys."t
This dictator perpetuo, in fact, seems to have collared every hart he
took. The family of Poinpei in Italy use two harts for their supporters,
on whose collars were the letters N. M. T. in memory of one, on whose
collar were these words : " Nemo Me Tanyat, Coesaris sum." Anstis,
II. 113.
The original of all these stories is to be found in Pliny, who says:
" It is generally held and confessed that the stagge or hind live long :
for an hundred yeer after Alexander the great, some were taken with
golden collars about their necks, overgrowne now with haire and
growne within the skin : which collars the said king had done upon
tliem." Natnrall liistoiie, (by Holland), IGOl. (B. 8. c. 32.) Pausanias,
moreover, speaking of one Leocydas, w ho fought for the Megalopolitans,
in conjunction with Lydiades, against the Lacedajmonians (about the
year 243 before Chrisl), says he was reported to be the descendant in the
ninth degree of that Arcesilaus, who living in Lycosura saw that stag
which is sacred to the goddess Dcspoine worn out with old age. This
stag, be adds, had a collar on its neck with the following inscription :
Caught young, when Agapenor sail'd for Troy.
By which, he concludes, it is evident, that a stag lives much longer than
an elephant. (B. 8, c. 10.)
• Histoire de Charles VI. + Upton, de re militari, p. 119.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Ixxui
" Enter Rohen Hoode.
King. How now, caile Robert!
Fri. A forfct, a foifet, my liege lord,
My masters lawes are on record,
The court-roll here your grace may see.
King. I pray thee, frier, read them mee.
Fri. One sliall suthce, and this is hee.
No man that commcth in this wod.
To feast or dwell with Robin Hood.
Shall call him earle, lord, knight, or squire.
He no such titles doth desire,
But Robin Hood, plain Robin Hoode,
That honest yeoman, stout and good.
On paine of forfelling a marke,
That must be paid to mee his clarke.
My liege, my liege, this lawe you broke.
Almost in the last word you spoke ;
That crime may not acquitted bee.
Till frier Tuck receive his fee."
Now, the reason that " the most ancient poems make no
mention of this earldom," and the old legend expressly
asserts him " to have been a yeoman," appears, plainly
enough, to be, that as, pursuant to his own injunction, he
was never called, either by his followers, or in the vicinity,
by any other name than Robin Hood, so particularly the
minstrels, who were always, no doubt, welcome to Sherwood,*
and liberally entertained by him and his yeomanrj', would
take special care never to offend against the above law :
which puts an end to the dispute. Q. E. D.
Our hero is, at length, poisoned by a drink which Don-
caster and the prior, his uncle, had prepared for him to give
* Robin, in the old legend, expresses his regard for this order of men
(concerning which the reader may consult an ingenious " Essay" in the
Reliques of ancient English poetry, (vol. I.) and some " Observations"
in a collection of ancient songs, printed in 1790) :
" Whether he be messengere.
Or a man that rayrthes can.
Or yf he be a pore man.
Of my good he shall have some."
Ixxiv NOTES AND ILLl'STRATIONS.
to the king. His departing scene, and last dying speech are 1
beautifiil and pathetic.
" Rob. Inough, iiiough, Fitzwater, take your child.
My flying frost, which no sunncs heat can thawe.
Closes the powers of all my outward parts ;
My freezing blood runues back unto ray heart.
Where it assists death, which it would resist:
Only my love a little hinders death.
For he beholds her eyes, and cannot smite.
ATat. O let mee looke for ever in thy eyes.
And lay my warme breath to thy bloodlesse lips.
If my sight can rcstraine deaths tyrannies.
Or keep lives breath within thy bosome lockt."
He desires to be buryed
" At Wakefield, underneath the abbey-wall ;
directs the manner of his funeral ; and bids his yeomen,
" For holy dirges, sing ' him' wodmens songs."
The king, upon the earls death, expresses his sorrow for
the tragical event ; ratifies the will ; repeats the directions
for the fimeral ; and says,
" Fall to your wod-songs, therefore, yeomen bold,
And deck his herse with flowers, that lov'd you deere."
The whole concludes with the following solemne dirge :
" Wcepc, wcepe, ye wod-mcn waile,
Vour hands with sorrow wring ;
Your master Robin Hood lies deade,
Therefore sigh as you sing.
Here lies his primer, and his beades.
His bent bowe, and his arrowes keene,
His good sworde and his holy crosse :
Now cast on flowers fresh and greene.
And, as they fall, shed teares and say,
Well a, well a day, well a, well a day !
Thus cast yec flowers and sing,
And on to Wakefield take your way."
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. IxXV
The poet then prosecutes the legend of Matilda, who is
finally poisoned, by the procurement of king John, in Dun-
mow-prior}'.
The story of this lady, whom the author of these plays is
supposed to have been the first that converted into the character
of maid INIarian, or connected in any shape with the history
of Robin Hood, is thus related by Stow, under the year
1213 : " Tlie clironicle of Dunmowsayth, this discord arose
betwixt the king and his barons, because of Mawd called the
feire, daughter to Robert Fitzwalter, whome the king loved,
but her father would not consent; and tliereupon ensued
waiTe tlirou^hout England Wliilst Mawd tlie faire
remayned at Dunmow, there came a messenger unto her
from king John about his suite in love, but because she would
not agree, the messenger poysoned a boyled or potched egge
against she was hungrie, whereof she died." (Annales, 1592).
Two of Draytons heroical epistles pass between king John
and Matilda. He has also ^TOtten her legend.
4. " Robin Hood's penn'orths, by Wm. Haughton."*
5. " Metropolis coronata, the triumphs of ancient drapery :
or, rich cloathing of England, in a second yeeres performance.
In honour of the advancement of sir John Jolles, knight, to
the high office of lord maior of London, and taking his oath
for the same authoritie, on Monday being die 30. day of
October, 1615. Performed in heartie affection to him, and
at the bountifiiU charges of his worthy brethren the truely
honourable society of drapers, the first that received such
dignitie, in this citie. Devised and written by A. M.
[Anthony Mundy] citizen and draper of London." 1615.
4to.
• This play is entered in master Henslows account-book with the
date of December 1600. See Malones Shakspeare, Vol. IL Part IL
fEinen. & ad.)
IXXVl NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
This is one of the pageants formerly usual on Lord-mayors-
day, and of which several are extant, wTitten as well by our
author INIundy,* as by Middleton, Dekker, Heywood, and
other hackney dramatists of that period. They were thousjht
of such consequence that the city had for some time (though
probably not till after the restoration) a professed laureat for
their composition ; an office which expired with Elkanah
Settle in 1723-4. They consisted chiefly of machinery, alle-
gorical or historical personages, songs and speeches.
" After all these shewes, thus ordered in their appointed
places, followeth another device of huntsmen, all clad in
greene, with tlieir bowes, arrowes and bugles, and a new
slaine deere, carried among them. It savoureth of earle
Robert de la Hude, sometime the noble earle of Huntington,
and Sonne in law (by marriage) to old Fitz-Alwine.t raised
by the mases all-commanding power, to honour this triumph
with his father. During the time of his out-lawed life in the
forest of merry Shirwood, and elsewhere, while the cruel op-
pression of a most unnatural and covetous brother hung
heavy upon him, Gilbert de la Hude lord abbot of Christall
[r. Kirkstall] abbey, who had all or most of his lands in
mortgage : he was commonly called Robin Hood, and had a
gallant company of men (out-lawed in the like manner) that
followed his downecast fortunes; as little John, Scathlocke
• " The triumphes of reunited Britannia. A pageant in lionour of sir
Leonard Holliday lord mayor." 1605.
t Henry Fitz-Alwine Fiiz-Liefstane, gold-smith, first mayor of London,
was appointed to that office hy K. Richard I. in 1189, and continued
therein till the 15th of K. John, 1212, when he " deceased, and was
buried in the priorie of the holy trinitie, nearo unto Alilgate." (Stows
Survay, 1598. p. 4!8.) His relationship with Robin Hood is merely
poetical, and iMVinte<i by Miindy " for the nonce;" though it is by no
means improbable tliat they were acquainted, and that our hero might
ha\e occasionally dined at tlic mansion house on a hird mayors day.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. IxXvii
Much the millers son, Right-hitting Brand, fryar Tuck, and
many more. In which condition of life we make instant use
of him, and part of his brave bowmen, fitted with bowes and
arrowes, of the like strength and length, as good records
deliver testimonie, were then used by them in their killing of
deere
Afterward, [viz. after " Fitz-Alwines speech to the lord
maior at night,"] as occasion best presenteth itselfe, when the
heate of all other employments are calmly overpast, earle
Robin Hood, with fryer Tuck, and his other brave huntes-
men, attending (now at last) to discharge their duty to my
lord, which the busie turmoile of the whole day could not
before affoord : they shewe themselves to him in this order,
and earle Robin himselfe thus speaketh.
The speech spoken by earl Robert de la Hude, commonly
called Robin Hood.
Since graves may not their dead containe.
Nor in their peacefiill sleepes reinaiue,
But triumphes and ttreat showes must use them,
And we unable to refuse them ;
It joyes me that earle Robert Hood,
Fetcht from the forrest of merrie Shirwood,
With these my yeomen tight and tall,
Brave huntsmen and good archers all.
Must in this joviall day partake,
Prepared for your honours sake.
No sooner was i raysde from rest.
And of my former state possest
As while i liv'd, but being alone.
And of my yeomen seeing not one,
I with my bugle gave a call,
Made all the woods to ring withall.
Immediately came little John,
And Scathlock followed him anon.
With Much the honest millers sonne ;
And ere ought else could be done,
The froUicke frier came tripping in.
His heart upon a merrie pinne.
Ixxviii NOTES AND ILLl'STKATIONS.
Master (quoth he) in yonder brake,
A deerc is liid for Marians sake,
Bid Scalhlock, John, or honest Brand,
That hath the happy hitlinf; hand,
Shoote rif;hl and have him : and see, my lord,
The deed performed with the word.
For Robin and his bow-men bohl.
Religiously did ever holdc,
Not emptie-handed to be seene,
Were't but at feasting on a greene ;
Much more then, when so high a day
Calls our attendance : all we may
Is all too little, tis your grace
To winke at weakenesse in this case :
So, fearing to be over-long,
End all with our old hunting song.
The song of Robin Hood and his huntes-men.
Now wend we together, my merry men all.
Unto the forrest side a ;
And there to strike a buck or a doae.
Let our cunuiug all be tride a.
Then goe we merrily, merrily on,
To the greenwood to take up our stand [a].
Where we will lye in waite for our game.
With our best bowes all in our hand [a].
What life is there like to bold Robin Hood?
It is so pleasant a thing a:
In merry Shirwood l:e spends his dayes.
As pleasantly as a king a.
No man may compare with bold Robin Hood,
With Robin Hood, Scathlocke and John [a] :
Their like was never, nor never will be.
If in case that they were gone [a].
They will not away from merry Shirwood,
In any place else to dwell [a] :
For there is neither city nor towne.
That likes them half so well [a].
Onr lives are wholly given to hunt.
And hannt the merry greene-wood [a] ;
Where our best service is daily spent.
For our master Robin Hood [a]."
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Ixxix
6. " Robin Hood and his pastoral May games." 1624.
7. " Ilobin Hood and his crew of soldiers." 1627.
These two titles are inserted among the plays mentioned by
Chetwood in his British theatre, (p. 67.) as written by
anonymous authors in the 16th century to the restoration.
But neither Langbaine, who mentions both, nor any other
person, pretends to have ever seen either of them. Tlie
former, indeed, may possibly be " The playe of Robyn
Hode," already noticed; and the other is probably a future
article. Langbaine, it is to be observed, gives no date to
either piece ; so that, it may be fairly concluded, those above
specifyed are of Chetwoods own invention, which appears to
have been abundantly fertile in every species of forgery and
imposture.
8. " Tlie sad shepherd, or a tale of Robin Hood."
The story of our renowned archer cannot be said to have
been wholely occupyed by bards v\4thout a name ; since, not
to mention Mundy or Drayton, the celebrated Ben Jonson
intended a pastoral drama on this subject, under the above
title; but dying, in the year 1637, before it was finished,
little more than the two first acts has descended down to us.
His last editor (Mr. Whalley), while he regrets that it is but
a fragment, speaks of it in raptures, and, indeed, not without
evident reason, many passages being eminently poetical and
judicious.
" The persons of the play," so far as concerns our immediate
purpose, are: [1] " Robin Hood, the chief woodman [i. e.
forester], master of tlie feast. [2] Marian, his lady, the
mistress. [3] Friar Tuck, the chaplain and steward. [4]
Little John, bow-bearer. [5, 6] Scarlet, Scathlocke,* two
* Jonson was led into this mistake by the old play of Robin HoimI.
See before, p. Ixiv.
Ixxx
NOTES AXD ILLUSTRATIONS.
brothers, huntsmen. [7] George a Green, huisher of tlie
bower. [8] Much, Robin Hoods bailiff or acater." The rest
are, the guests invited, the witch of Paplewick, her daughter,
the swin'ard her son. Fuck Hairy or Robin Goodfellow
their hind, and lastly a devout hermit. " The scene,
Sherwood, consisting of a landscape of a forest, hills, valleys,
cottages, a castle, a river, ])astures, herds, flocks, all full of
country simplicity ; Robin Hoods bovver, his well, &c."
"The argument of the first act" is as follows: " Robin
Hood, having invited all the shepherds and shepherdesses
of the vale of Be'voir to a feast in the forest of Sherwood,
and trusting to his mistress, maid Marian, with her wood-
men, to kill him venison against the day ; having left the
like charge with friar Tuck his chaplain and steward, to
command the rest of his merry men to see the bower made
ready, and all things in order for the entertainment : ' meets'
with his guests at their entrance into the wood, and conducts
them to his bower : where, by the way, he receives the rela-
tion of the sad shepherd iT,glamour,who is fallen into a deep
melancholy for the loss of his beloved Earine, reported to
have been drowned in passing over the Trent, some few days
before .... In the mean time Marian is come from hunt-
ing .... Robin Hood enquires if she hunted the deere at
force, and what sport he made ? how long he stood ? and
what head he bore ? all which is briefly answered, with a re-
lation of breaking him up, and the raven, and her bone. The
suspect had of that raven to be INIaudlin tlie witch of Paple-
wick, whom one of the huntsmen met i' the morning at the
rouzing of the deer, and is confirmed by her being tlien in
Robin Hoods kitchen, i' the chimney corner, broiling the
same bit which was thrown to the raven at the quarry or fall
of the deer. Marian, being gone in to shew the deer to some
NOTES AXD ILLUSTRATIONS. IXXXl
of the shepherdesses, returns discontented ; sends away the
venison she had killed to her they call the witch; quarrels
with her love Robin Hood, abuseth him, and his guests the
shepherds ; and so departs, leaving them all in wonder and
perplexity."
By " the argument of the second act " it appears that the
witch had " taken tlie shape of Marian to abuse Robin Hood,
and perplex his guests." However, upon an explanation of
the matter with the true Marian, the trick is found out, the
venison recovered, and " Robin Hood dispatcheth out his
woodmen to hunt and take her : which ends the act." The
third act was designed to be taken up with the chace of the
witch, her various schemes to elude the pursuers, and the
discovery of Earine in the swineherds enchanted oak. No-
thing more of the authors design appearing, we have only to
regret the imperfect state of a pastoral drama, which, accord-
ing to the above learned and ingenious editor, would have
done honour to the nation.*
9. " Robin Hood and his crew of souldiers, a comedy
acted at Nottingham on the day of his saCRed majesties
corronation. Vivat rex. The actors names : Robin Hood,
commander; Little John, William Scadlocke, souldiers;
messenger from the sheriffe. London, printed for James
Davis, 1661." 4to.
This is an interlude, of a few pages and no merit; alluding
to the late rebellion, and the subject of the day. The outlaws,
convinced by the reasoning of die sherifs messenger, become
loyal subjects.
* This play appears to have been performed upon the stage after the
restoration. The prologue and epilogne (spoken by Mr. Portlock) are
to be found in num. 1009 of the Sloane MSS. It was republished, with
a continuation and notes, by Mr. Waldron, of Drury-lane theatre, in
1783.
Ixxxii XOTF.S AXD ILLUSTRATIONS.
10. "Robin Hood. An opera, as it is perform'd at Lee's
and Harpers great theatrical booth in liartholomew-feir."
1730. 8vo.
11. " Robin Hood." 1751. 8vo.
This was a ballad-farce, acted at Drury-lane tlieatre ; in
which the foUowinij favourite sono; was originally smig by
Mr. Beard, in tlie character of Robin Hood.
As blithe as the linnft sin^s in the green wood.
So blitlic we'll wake the morn ;
And through the w ide forest of merry Sherwood
We'll wind the bugle horn.
The sheriff attempts to take bold Robin Hood,
Bold Robin disdains to fly ;
Let him come when he will, we'll, in meiTy Sherwood,
Or vanquish, boys, or die.
Our hearts they are stout, and onr bows they are good,
As well their masters know ;
They're cnll'd in the forest of merry Sherwood,
And never will spare a foe.
Our arrows shall drink of the fallow deer's blood.
We'll hunt them all o'er the plain ;
And through the wide forest of merry Sherwood,
No shaft shall fly in vain.
Brave Scarlet, and John, who ne'er were subdu'd.
Give each his hand so bold;
We'll range through the forest of merry Sherwood,
What say my hearts of gold ?
12. " Robin Hood ; or, Sherwood forest: a comic opera.
As " performed at the theatre-royal in Covent-gai-den. By
Leonard Mac Nally, esq." 1784. 8vo.
This otherwise insignificant performance was embellished
with some fine music by Mr. Shield. It has been since re-
duced to, and is still frequently acted as, an after-piece.
A drama on tlie subject of Robin Hood, under the title of
Tlie foresters, has been long expected from the elegant autlior
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Ixxxiil
of The school for scandal. Tlie first act, said to have been
written many years ago, is, by those who have seen or heard
it, spoken of^vith admiration*
(X) — " innumerable poems, rimes, songs and ballads."]
The original and most ancient pieces of this nature have all
perished in the lapse of time, during a period of between five
and six hundred years continuance ; and all we now know
of them is that such things once existed. In the Vision of
Pierce Plowman, an allegorical poem, thought to have been
composed soon after the year 1360, and generally ascribed
to Robert Langeland, the author introduces an ignorant, idle
and drunken secular priest, the representative, no doubt, of
the parochial clergy of that age, in the character of Sloth,
who makes the following confession :
" I cannot parfitli mi paternoster, as the preist it singeth,
But I can ryms of Roben Hode, and ' Randolf ' erl of Chester,
But of our lorde or our lady I lerne nothyng at all."t
« A most stupid pantomime on this subject, under the title of " Merry
Sherwood, or Harlequin, forester," was performed in December, 1795, at
the theatre-royal, Covent-garden.
+ 1st edit. 1550, fo. xxvi, b. (Randolf is misprinted Rand of.) Sub-
sequent editions, even of the same year, reading only " Randall of Ches-
ter." Mr. Warton (History of English poetry, ii. 179.) makes this genius,
whom he calls a frier, say " that he is well acquainted with the rimes of
Randall of Chester;" and these rimes he, whimsically enough, conjectures
to be the old Chester Whitsun plays; which, upon very idle and non-
sensical evidence, he supposes to have been written by Randal Higden,
the compiler of the Polychronicon. Of course, if this absurd idea were
at all founded, the rimes of Robin Hood must likewise allude to certain
Yorkshire or Nottinghamshire plays, written by himself. The " Ran-
dolf erl of Chester" here meant is Randal Blundevile, the last earl of
that name, who had been in the holy land, was a great warrior and pa-
triot, and dyed in 1231.
The reading of the original edition is confirmed by a very old manu-
script, in the Cotton library, (Vespasian, B. XVI.) differing considerably
from the printed copies, which gives the passage thus :
Ixxxiv NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Fordun, the Scotish historian, who ^^Tote about 1340,
speaking of Rol)in Hood and Little Jolin, and their accom-
phces, says, " of whom the foolish vulgar in comedies and
tragedies make lewd entertainment, and are delighted to hear
the jesters and minstrels sing them above all other ballads :"*
and jNIair (or Major), whose history was published by him-
self in 1521, observes that " The exploits of this Robert are
celebrated in songs throughout all Britain." t So, likewise,
raaister Johne Bellendene, the translator of " that noble clerk
maister Hector Boece " (Boisor Boethius), having mentioned
" that waithman Robert Hode with his fallow litil Johne,"
adds, " of quhom ar mony fabillis and mery sportis soung
amang the vulgar pepyll/'J Whatever may have been the
" I can iiouzt perfiitli my patei-noster as a prest it sj ngeth :
I cau ryiiies of Robyn Hood, of Rondolf eil of Chestre,
Ac of oiire lorde iie of oiire ladi the leste that ever was maked."
fSee also Caligula, A. XI.)
The speaker himself could have (old Mr. Warton he was no frier :
" I have ben prieste & person passynge thyrty winter,
\et can I nether solfe, ne singe, ne sayntes lyves read ;
But I can find in a tielde or in a furlong an hare.
Better than in Beatus vir or in Beati oniues
Construe one clause well, & kenne it to my parishens."
* " De qnibus stolidum wigus hianter in comcediis & traga-diis pru-
rienter festum faciunt, «S; super ceteras ' romancias minios & bardanos
cantitare delectantur." Scolichronicou (a Hearne), p. 774. Comedies
and tragedies are— not dramatic compositions, but— poems of a comic or
serious cast. Romance in Spanish, and romance in French, signify — not
a tale of chivahy, but— a vulgar ballad, at this day.
t " Rebus hujus Roberti gestis tota Britannia in cantibus utitur."
Majoris Britannia? historia, Edin. 1740. p. 128.
i Hystiiry of Scotland, Edin. 1511. fo. The word " waithman" was
probably suggested by Andrew of Wyntown (see before, note (B.) It seems
equivalent to the English vagabond, or, perhaps, outlaw. VVaith is
waif; and it is to be remembered that, in the technical language of the
XOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. IxXXV
nature of the compositions alluded to by the above wTiters,
several of the pieces printed in the present collection are un-
questionably of great antiquity ; not less, that is, than between
three and four hundred years old. The Lytell geste, which
is first inserted, is probably the oldest thing upon the subject
we now possess ; * but a legend, apparently of the same
species, was once extant, of, perhaps, a still earlyer date, of
which it is some little satisfaction to be able to give even the
following fragment, from a single leaf, fortunately preserved
in one of the volumes of old printed ballads in the British
museum, in a hand-writing as old as Henry the 6ths time.
It exhibits the chaiacters of our hero and his fidus Achates in
the noblest point of view.
" He sayd Robyn Hod .... yne the presoD,
And owght off hit was gon.
The porter rose a-non certeyn.
As soiie as he bard Johan call ;
Lytjil Johan was redy with a sword.
And bare hym throw to the wall.
Now will I be jayler, sayd lytyll Johan,
And toke the keys in bond ;
He toke the way to Robyn Hod,
And sone he hyme unboiid.
He gatfe hym a good swerd in his bond.
His bed ther-with for to kepe;
English courts, a woman is said to be waived, and not outlawed. " In
our auld Scottish langage," says Skene, " ane Vothman is ane out-law,
or ane fugitive fra the lawes." (De verborum significations, Edin. 1597)
It is from jjaeXan, venari, fuyare. See Lyes Dictionary. The pas-
sage above quoted does not occur in Boises original work.
* Of this poem there have been, at least, five editions at London or
Westminster, and one at Edinburgh. In a list of " bookes printed, and
. . . sold by Jane Bell, at the east end of Christ-church [1655]," in com-
pany with Frier Rush, The frier and the boy, lac. is " a book of Robin
Hood and Little John." Captain Cox of Coventry appears to have had
a copy of some old edition : see Lanehams Letter from Killingworth,
1575.
VOL. I.
g
IxXXvi NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS,
And ther as the wallis wer lowest.
Anon down ther they lepe.
To Robyn sayd :
I have <ione the a god tome for an . .
Quit me when thow may ;
I have done the a gode tome, sayd lytyll [Johan],
Forsothe as I the saye;
1 have browghte the under the grcn wod . . .
Farewell & have godo daye.
Nay, be my trowthe, sa)d Robyn,
So schall it never bee ;
I make the master, sayd Robyn,
Otr all my men & me.
Nay, be my trowthe, sayd lytyll Johan,
So schall it never bee."
This, indeed, may be part of the " story of Robin Hood and
little John," which M. ^^'ilhelm Bedweil found in the
ancient MS. lent him by his much honoured good friend
M. G. Withers, whence he extracted and published " The
tumament of Tottenham," a poem of the same age, and which
seemed to him to be done (perhaps but transcribed) by sir
Gilbert Pilkington, formerly, as some had tl\ought, parson of
that parish.*
That poems and stories on the subject of our hero and his
companions were extraordinarily popular and common before
and during the sixteenth century is evident from tiie testimony
of divers writers. Thus, Alexander Barclay, priest, in his
translation of The shyp of folys, printed by Pynson in 1508,
and by John Cawood in 1570,t says:
* " Description of the town of Totttiiham-hii;h-crosse, &c." London,
(1631,4to.)1781,8vo. The invaluable MS. alluckd to has been since dis-
covered ; and the entire poem, of which Mr. Rilson lias here given a
fragment, will be found in the Appendix. Ed.
t The book, under the same title, printed by Wynken dc Worde, in
1517, is a different translation in prose.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATION'S. IxXXvii
" I write no jeste lie tal« of Robin Huod."
Again :
" For goodlie scripture is not -worth au hawe.
But tales are loved ground of ribandry ;
And many are so blinded with their foly,
That no scriptur thinke they so tnic nor gode.
As is a foolish jest of Robin Hodc."
Again :
" And of all fables and jestes of Robin Hood,
Or oilier trifles."
The same Barclay, in the fourth of his Egloges, subjoined
to the last edition of The ship of foles, but originally printed
soon after 1500, has the following passage :
" Yet would I gladly heare some nieiy fit
Of niaide Marion, or els of Robin Hood,
Or Benteleyes ale, which chafoih well the blood.
Of Perte of Norwich, or Sauce of Wilberton,
Or buckishe Joly * well stuffed as a Ion."
Robert Braham, in his epistle to the reader, prefixed to
Lydgates Troy-book, 1555, is of opinion that " Caxtons re-
cueil" [of Troy] is " worthye to be numbred amongest tlie
trifelinge tales and barrayne luerdries of Robyn Hode and
Bevys of Hampton." (See Ames's Typographical antiquities,
by Herbert, p. 849.)
" For one that is sand blynd," says sir Thomas Chaloner,
" woulde take an asse for a moyle, or anotiier prayse a rime
of Robyn Hode for as excellent a making as Troylus of
Chaucer, yet shoulde they not straight-waies be counted
madde therefore ? (Erasmus's Praise of folye, sig. h.)
"If good lyfe," observes bishop Latimer, " do not insue
and folowe upon our readinge to the example of other, we
myghte as well spende that tyme in reading of prophane hys-
* Mr. Warton reads Toby, and so, perhaps, it may be in former edi-
tions.
IxXXviii NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
tories, of Canterburye tales, or a fit of lloben Hode." (Ser- I
mens, sig. A. iiii.) ^
Tlie following lines, from a poem in the Hyndford MS.
compiled in 1568, afford an additional proof of our heros
popularity in Scotland :
" Thair is no story that I of licir,
. Of Jobne nor Rvljene Hudc,
Nor zit of Wallace wicbt but weir,
Tbat me thinkcs half so gude,
As of thre palmaris, &c."
That the subject was not forgotten in the succeeding age,
can be testifyed by Drayton, who is elsewhere quoted, and
in his sixth eclogue makes Gorbo Uius address " old Winken
de Word :"
" Come, sit we down under this hawthorn-tree.
The morrows light shall lend us day enough,
And let us tell of Gaweii, or sir Guy,
Of Robin Hood, or of old Clem a Clongh."
Richard Johnson, who wrote " The histor)' of Tom
Tliumbe," in prose, (London, 1621, 12mo. b. 1.) thus pre-
faces his work : " My merry muse begets no tales of Guy
of Warwicke, &c. nor will I trouble my penne with the
pleasant glee of Robin llood, little John, the fiyer, and his
Marian; nor will I call to mind the lusty Finder of Wake-
field, &c."
In " The Calidonian forrest," a sort of allegorical or mystic
tale, by John Ilepwith, gentleman, printed in 1641, 4to. the
author says,
" Let us talke of Robin Hoode,
And little John in merry Shirewoode,&c."*
* Honest Barnaby, i. e. Richard Brathwaytc, who wrote or travelled
ab<int 16-H), was well acquainted with our heros story.
" Veni Nottirinhani tyrones
Sherwoodense.s sunt lalronts.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Ixxxix
Of one very ancient, and undoubtedly once very popular,
song this single line is all that is now known to exist :
" liobtn l^oolr in Uarnslialc stooti."
However, though but a line, it is of the highest authority in
Westminster-hall, where, in order to the decision of a knotty
point, it has been repeatedly cited, in the most solemn man-
ner, by grave and learned judges.
M. 6 Jac. B. R. Witham v. Barker. Yelv. 147. Trespass,
for breaking plaintifs close, &c. Plea, Liberum tenementura
of sir John Tyndall, and justification as his servant and by his
command. Replication, That it is true it is his freehold,
but that long before the time when &c. he leased to plaintif
at will, who entered and was possessed until, &c. traversing,
tliat defendant entered, &c. by command of sir John. De-
murrer: and adjudged against plaintif, on the ground of the
Instar Robin Hood, & servi
Scarlet & Joannis Paivi ;
Passim, sparsim, peculantur,
Cellis, sylvis depraedautur.
" Thence to Nottingham, where rovers,
Highway riders, Sherwood drovers.
Like old Robin Hood, and Scarlet,
Or like Little John his varlet ;
Here and there they shew them doughty.
In cells and woods to get their booty."
Whitlock relates that " the [parliament] committee who carried the
propositions ofpeacc to Oxford, had the kin^s answer scaled up and sent to
them. They, upon advice together, thought it not fit for them to receive
an answer in that manner . . . and made an address to his majesty, that
they might know what his answer was, and have a copy of it : to which
his majesty replied, What is that to you, who are but to carry what I
send, and if I will send the song of Uobin Hood and Little John, you
must carry it? To which the commissioners only said, that the business
about which they cainc was of somewhat more consequence than that
song." [Memorials, p. 115.)
XC NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
replication being bad, as not setting forth any seisin or pos-
session in sir John, out of which a lease at will could be de-
rived. For a title made by tlie plea or replication should be
certain to all intents, because it is traversable. Here, there-
for, he should have stated sir Johns seisin, as well as the lease
at will ; which is not done here : " mfS tCUt tin conif i\ USt
ffplif Robin Whood in Bamwood stood, absque hoc q[ tiff,
p COmmantrcmfUt sir John. Quod nota. Per Fenner, Wil-
liams et Crook jiisttrjs sole en court. dSt jutrgtitrnt tionc
accordant. Yelv. p trcf."
In the case of Bush v. Leake, B. R. Trin. 23 G. 3. BuUer,
justice, cited the case of Coulthurst v. Coultliurst, C. B.
Pasch. 12 G. 3. (an action on bond) and observed " There,
a case in Yelverton was alluded to, where the court said, you
might as well say, by way of inducement to a traverse, Robin
Hood in Barnwood stood."
It is almost unnecessary to observe, because it will be
shortly proved, that Bamwood, in the preceding quotations,
ought to be Barnsdale.* Witli respect to Whood, the reader
will see, under note (P), a remarkable proof of tlse antiquity
* There is, in fact, sneh a place as Barnwood forest, in Biickinuliani-
shire ; but no one, except Mr. Hearne, has hitherto supposed that pari
of the country to have been frequented by our hero. Barnwood, in the
case reported by Yelverton, has clearly arisen from a confusion of Barns-
dale and green wood. " Robin Hood in the greenwood stood" was like
wise the beginning of an old s<ing now lost (see vol. ii. p. 40) : and it is
not a little remarkable that Jetteries, Serjeant, on the trial of Pilkington
and others, for a riot, in 1C83, by a similar confusion, quotes the line in
question thus:
" Robin Hood upon Greendale stood." (State-trials, iii. 634.)
A third corruption has taken place in Parker, p. 131. (King v. Cotton,)
though expressly cited from Yelverton ; viz.
" Robin Hood in Barnwell stood."
The following most vulgar and indecent rime, inrrcnl amon^ the pea-
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. XCl
of lliat pronunciation, which actually prevails in the metro-
polis at this day. See also the word " whodes in note (EE).
So, likewise. Bale, in his Actes of English votaries, 1560,
says, " the monkes had their cowles, caprones or whodes ;"
and in Stows S«7Tflj/,1598, p. 120, have " a fooles whoode."
This celebrated and important line occurs as tlie first of a
foolish mock-song, inserted in an old morality, intitled " A
new interlude and a mery of tlie nature of the iiii elementes,"
supposed to have been printed by John Rastall about 1520 ;
where it is thus introduced :
" Hu[mani/te]. let us some Iiisty balet syng.
Ynglnorance]. Nay, syr, by the hevyn kyng :
For me thynkyth it seivyth for no thyng,
All suche pevysh prykeryd song.
Hu. Pes, man, pryk-song may not be dyspysyd,
For therwith god is well plesyd.
Yng, Is god well pleasyd, trowest thou, therby ?
Nay, nay, for there is no reason why.
For is it not as good to say playnly
Gyf me a spade.
As gyf me a spa ve va ve va ve vade ?
But yf thou wylt have a song that is good,
I have one of Robyn Hode,
' The best that ever was made.
Hu. Then a feleshyp, let us here it.
Yng. But there is a l)ordon, thou must here it,
Or ellys it wyll not be.
Hu. Than begyn, and care not for . . .
Downe downe downe, &c.
santry in the north of England, may have been intended to ridicule the
perpetual repetition of " Robin Hood in greenwood stood :"
Robin Hood
In green-wood stood,
With his back against a tree ;
He fell flat
Into a cow-plat.
And all besh — o was he.
XCU NOTES AND I L L LSTR ATION S.
n
Yny. Robyii Hixie in Barnysdale etode.
And kilt liyin tyl a iiiapvll Ihyslyll;
Than cam uur lady & s«fte sayul Audrewc:
Slepyst thou, wakyst thou, Gelfrcy Coke J •
A c. wyntcr the water was depe,
I can not tell you how brode ;
He toke a gose nek in his haiide.
And over the water he went.
He start up to a thystell top,
And cut hyin downe a holyu clobbc ;
He stroke the wren betwene the hornys.
That fyre sprange out of the pygges taylc.
Jak boy is thy bow i-broke.
Or hath any man done the wryguldy wrange ?
He pUikkyd muskyllys out of a wyllowe,
And put rhem in to bis sachell.
Wylkyn was an archer good.
And well coude handell a spade;
He toke his bend bowe in his hand.
And set him downe by the fyre.
He toke with hym Ix. bowes and ten,
A pese of befe, another of baken.
Of all the byides in niery Englond,
So merely pypys the mery botell."
" The lives, stories, and giftes of men which are contained
in tlie bible, they [the papists] read as thinges no more per-
taining unto them than a tale of Robin Hood." Tyndale,
Prologue to the prophecy of Jonas, about 1531.
Gwalter Lynne, printer, in his dedication to Ann, duchess
of Somerset, of " The true beliefe in Christ and his sacra-
mentes," 1550, says, " I woulde wyshe tharfore that al men,
women, and chyldren, would read it. Not as they haue l)eiie
* It is possible that, amid these absurdities, there may be other lines
of the old song of Robin Hood, which is the only reason for reviving
them.
" O sleepst thou, or wakst tliou, Jefifery Cooke?"
occurs, likewise, in a medley of a similar description, in rdiiiiiielia.
1609.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. XCIII
here tofore accustomed to reade the fained stoiyes of Robin-
hode, Clem of die Cloughe, wy th such lyke to passe the tyme
wythal, &c."
In 1562, John Aide had license to print " a ballad of
Robyn god," a mistake, it is probable, for Robyn Hod.
Alexander Hume, minister of Lo^ie, about 1599, says, in
one of his " Hymnes or sacred songs," printed in tliat year,
that
" much to blame are those of carnal brood,
Who loath to taste of intellectual food,
Yet surfeit on old tales of Robin Hood."
Complaint of ScoUand. Edin. 1801, Dissertation, p. 221.
" Exclude the scriptures, and bid them read the story
Of Robin Hood and Guy, which was both tall and stout,
And Bevis of Southampton, to seek the matter out.
Suft'er all slander against god and his truth.
And praise the old fashion in king Arthur's days.
Of abbays and monasteries how it is great ruth
To have them plucked down, and so the eldest says;
And how it was merry when Robin Hoods plays
Was in every town, the morrice and the fool.
The maypole and the drum, to bring the calf from school.
With Midge, Madge and Marion, about the pole to dance.
And Stephen, that tall stripILog, to lead Volans dance.
With roguing Gangweeke, a goodly remembrance.
With beads in every band, our prayers stood by tale :
This was a merry work, talk among our meany.
And then of good eggs ye might have twenty for a penny."
L. Ramseys Practice of the divell. b. 1.
All the entne poems and songs known to be extant will
be found in the follo\ving collection ; but many more may
be traditionally preserved in different pans of the country
which would have added considerably to its value.* That
• In " SeracKtus rxdens, or a discourse between Jest and Earnest,"
a periodical paper, against the whigs, published in 1681, and collected
and republished in 1713, (No. 34) Jest begins singing:
" Bills, hows, and axes, quoth Robin Hood,
But I have not time to lelX;
XCIV NOTES AND ILLUSTRATION'S.
some of these idemical pieces, or others of the like nature,
were great favourites with the common people in the time
of queen Elizabeth, though not much esteemed, it would
seem, by the refined critic, may, in addition to the testimonies
already cited, be infered firom a passage in Webbes Discourse
of English poetrie, printed in 1586. " If I lette passe,"
says he, " the unaccountable rabble of ryming ballet-makers,
and compylers of sencelesse sonets, who be most busy to
stufTe every stall full of grosse devises and unlearned pam-
phlets, I trust I shall with the best sort be held excused.
Youder's the sheriff aud his company,
But I hope all will be well.
Hei, down, derry, derry, down:
and says, " I hope I may sing of old Robin without offending a grand
jury, or being presented for disuniting protestants."
In The gentleman's magazine for December, 1790, is the first verse of
a song used by the inhabitants of Helston in Cornwall, on the celebration
of an annual festivity on the eighth of May, called the Furry -day, si\p-
posed Floras day, not, it is imagined, " as many have thought, in remem-
brance of some festival instituted in honour of that goddess, but rather
from the garlands commonly worn on that day." (See the same publi-
cation for June and October, 1790.) This verse was the wi ole that Mr.
Urbaus correspondent could then recollect, but he thought he might be
afterward able " to send all that is known of it, for," he says, " it for-
merly was very long, but is now much forgotten." The stanza is as fol-
lows :
" Robin Hood and Little John
They are both gone to fair O ;
And we will go to the merry green-wood.
To see what they do there O.
With hel an tow.
And rum-be-low.
And chearily we'll get up.
As soon as any day O,
All for to bring the summer home.
The summer and the May O."
" After which," he adds, " there is something about the grey goose wing;
from all which," he concludes, " the goddess Flora has nothing to say to
it." She may have nothing to say to the song, indeed, and yet a good
deal lo do with the thing. But the fact is, that the first eight days of
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. XCV
For though many such can frame an alehouse-song of five
or sixe score verses, hobbling uppon some tune of a northern
jygge, or Robyn Hoode, or La lubber, ice. and perhappes
observe just number of sillables, eyght in one line, sixe in
an other, and therewithall an A to make a jercke in the ende,
yet if these miglit be accounted poets (as it is sayde some of
them make meanes to be promoted to the lawrell) surely we
shall shortly have whole swarmes of poets; and every one
that can frame a booke in ryme, though, for want of matter,
it be but in commendations of copper noses, or bottle ale,
wyll catch at the garlande due to poets: whose potticall
May, or the first day and the eighth, seem to have been devoted by the
Celtic nations to some great religious ceremony. Certain superstitious
observances of this period still exist in the highlands of Scotland, where
it is called the Bel-tein ; Beltan, in that country, being a common term
tor the beginning of May, as " between the Beltans" is a saying signifi-
cant of the first and eighth days of that month. The games of Robin Hood,
as we shall elsewhere see, were, for whatever reason, always celebrated
in May.— N. B. " Hel-an-tow," in the above stanza, should be heave
and how. Heave and how, and Rumbclow, was an ordinary chorus to
old ballads ; and is at least as ancient as the reign of Edward II. since
it occurs in the stanza of a Scotish song, preserved by some of our old
historians, on the battle of Bannock-burn.
To lengthen this long note : Among the Harloian MSS. (num. 367.) Is
the fragment of " a tale of Robin Hood dialouge-wise beetweeue Watt
and Jeffry. The morall is the overtlirowe of the abbyes ; the like being
attempted by the Puritane, w hich is the wolfe, and the politician, which
is the fox, agaynst the bushops. Robin Hood, bushop ; Adam Bell, abbot ;
Little John, coUeauges of the university." This seems to have been a
common mode of satyrizing both the old church and the reformers. In
another MS. of the same collection, (N. 207) written about 1532, is a
tract entitled " The banckett of John the reve, unto Peirs Ploughman,
Laurens Laborer, Thomlyn Tailyor,and Hobb of the HiUe, with others:"
being, as Mr. Wanley says, a dispute concerning transubstantiation by a
Roman catholic. The other, indeed, is much more modern : it alludes
to the indolence of the abbots, and their falling off from the original purity
in which they were placed by the bishops, whom it inclines to praise.
The object of its satire seems to be the Puritans; but here it is imperfect,
though the lines preserved are not wholly destitute of poetical merit. —
" Robin Hood and the duke of Lancaster, a ballad, to the tune of The
abbot of Canterbury," 1727, is a satire on sir Robert Walpole.
XCVI NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
(poeticall, I should say) heades, I woulde vvyshe, at their
■worshipfull comencements, might, in steede of lawrell, be
gorgiously garnished with fayre greene bailey, in token of
their good affection to our Englishe malt." Tlie chief object
of this satire seems to be William Elderton, the drunken
ballad-maker, of whose compositions all but one or two have
unfortunately perished.*
Most of the songs inserted in the second of these volumes
were common broad-sheet ballads, printed in the black letter,
with wood cuts, between the restoration and the revolution ;
though copies of some few have been found of an earlyer
date. " Who was the author of the collection, intitled Robin
Hood's garland, no one," says sir John Hawkins, " has yet
pretended to guess. As some of the songs have in them
more of the spuit of poetry than others, it is probable," he
thinks, " it is the work of various hands : that it has from
time to time been varied and adapted to the phrase of tlie
times," he says, " is certain." None of these songs, it is be-
• Chatterton, in his "Memoir? of a sad dog," represents " baron
Otranto" (mcanine;, the honorable Horace Walpole, now earl of Orford)
when on a visit to " sir Stentor," as highly pleased with Robin Hoods
ramble, " melodiously chaunted by the knight's groom and dairy-maid, to
the excellent music of a two-stringed violin and bag-pipe," which tran-
sported him back " to the age of his favourite hero, Richard the third ;"
whereas, says he, " the songs of Robin Hood were not in being till the
reign of queen Elizabeth." This, indeed, may be in a great measure true
of those w hich we now have, but there is sutficient evidence of the exis-
tence and popularity of such-like songs for ages preceding; and some of
these, no doubt, were occasionally modernised or new-written, though
most of them must be allowed to liave perished.
The late Dr. Johnson, in controverting the authenticity of Fingal, a
composition in which the author, Mr. Macpherson, has made great use
of some unquestionably ancient Irish ballads, said, " He would undertake
to write an epick poem on the story of Robin Hood, and half England,
10 whom the names and places he should mentinn in it are familiar, would
belie\e and declare tliey liad heard it from llieir earliest years." (Bos-
wcHs Journal, p. 486.)
I
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. XCVll
lieved, were collected into a garland till after the restoration ;
as the earliest that has been met with, a copy of which is in
the possession of Francis Douce, esq. was printed by W.
Thackeray, a noted ballad-monger, in 1670. This, however,
contains no more than sixteen songs, some of which, very
falsely as it seems, are said to have been " never before
printed." " The latest edition of any worth," according to
sir John Hawkins, " is that of 1719." None of the old edi-
tions of this garland have any sort of preface : that prefixed
to tlie modem ones, of Bow or Aldermary church-yard, being
taken from the collection of old ballads, 1723, where it is
placed at the head of Robin Hoods birth and breeding. Tlie
full title of the last London edition of any note is — " Robin
Hood's garland : being a complete history of all the notable
and merry exploits performed by him and his men on many
occasions : To which is added a preface, [i.e. the one already
mentioned] giving a more full and particular account of his
birth, &c. than any hitherto published. [Cut of archers
shooting at a target.]
I'll send this arrow from my bow,
And in a wager will be bound
To hit the mark aright, although
It were for fifteen hundred pound.
Doubt not I'll make the wager good.
Or ne'er believe bold Robin Hood.
Adorned with twenty-seven neat and curious cuts adapted to
the subject of each song. London, Printed and sold by R.
Marshall, in Aldermary church-yard, Bow-lane." 12mo.
On the back of the title-page is the following Grub-street ad-
dress :
" To all gentlemen archers."
" This garland has been long out of repair,
Some songs being wanting, of which we give account;
For now at last, by true industrious care,
The sixteen songs to twenty-seven we mount ;
XOVlll \OTKR AND ILLUSTRATION'S.
Which large ailflitioii iired? iiiusl please, I know,
All ihe ingeniou.-i ' yediiuii ' of the bow.
To read how Robin Hood and Little John,
Brave Scarlet, Stntcly, valiant, bold and free,
Each of them bravely, fairly pl.iy'd the man,
Wliile they did reign beneath the green wood tree;
Bisliops, friars, likewise many more,
Parted with their gold, for to increase their store,
Bnt never would they rob or wrong the poor."
The last seven lines are not by the autlior of tlie first six,
but were added afterward; perhaps when the twenty -four
songs were increased to twenty-seven.*
(Y) — " has given rise to divers proverbs:"] Proverbs, in
all countries, are, generally speaking, of very great antiquity ;
and therfor it will not be contended that those concerning
our hero are the oldest we have. It is highly probable,
however, that they originated in or near his own time, and
of course have existed for upward of 500 years, which is no
» The following note is inserted in the fourth edition of the Reliques
of ancient English poetry, published in July 1795 (vol. L p. xcvii) :
" Of the 24 songs in what is now c;illed " Robin Hood's garland,"
many are so modern as not to be found in Pepy's collection completed
only in 1700. In the [editors] folio MS. are ancient fragments of the fol-
lowing, viz.— Robin Hood and the beggar.— Robin Hood and the butcher.
—Robin Hood and fryer Tucke.— Robin Hood and the piudar.— Robin
Hood and queen Catharine, in two parts.— Little John and the four beg-
gars, and " Robine Hood his death." This last, which is very curious,
has no resemblance to any that have yet been published; [it is probably
num. XXVIII. of part II.] and the others are extremely difterent from
the printed copies; but they unfortunately are in the beginning of the
MS. where half of every leaf hath been torn away."
As this MS. " contains several songs relating to the civil war in the
last century," the mere cirenmstance of its comprising fragments of the
above ballads is no proof of a higlier antiquity ; any more tlian its not
containing " one that alludes to the restoration" proves its having been
compiled before that period ; or than, because some of these 24 songs are
not to be found in Pepys's collection, they are more modern than 1700.
If tlie MS. coidd be collated, it would probably turn out that many of its
contents have been inaccurately and unfaithfidly transcribed, by some il-
literate person, from printed copies still extant, and, consequently, that
it is, so far, of no authority. See Ihe advertisement prefixed.
I
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. XCIX
modern date. Tliey are here arranged, not, perliaps, accord-
ing to their exact chronological order, but by the age of the
authorities tliey are taken from.
1. Good even, good Robin Hood.
The allusion is to civility extorted by fear. It is preserved
by Skelton, in that most biting satire, against cardinal
Wolsey, Why come ye not to court? (Works, 1736, p.
147.)
" He is set so hye,
In his hierarchy,
That in the charabre of stars
All matters there he mars ;
Clapping his rod on the horde.
No man dare speake a word ;
For he hath all the saying,
Without any renaying :
He roUeth in his recordes,
He saith, How say ye my lordes ?
Is not my reason good 'i
Good even, good Robin Hood."*
2. Many men talk of Robin Hood that never shot in his
bow.
" Tliat is, many discourse (or prate rather) of matters
wherein they have no skill or experience. Tliis proverb is
now extended all over England, though originally of Not-
tinghamshire extraction, where Robin Hood did principally
reside in Sherwood forrest. He was an arch robber, and
withal an excellent archer ; tliough surely the poet f gives a
twang to the loose of his arrow, making him shoot one a
cloth-yard long, at full forty score mark, for compass never
* Mr. Warton has mistaken and misprinted this line so as to make it
absolute nonsense.
" Is not my reason good?
Good — even good— Robin Hood."
(His. En. po. vol. ii.)
+ Draytons Poly-Olbion, song 26, p. 122. (Supra p. xii.)
/
C NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
higher than the breast, and within less tlian a foot of the
mark. But herein our author hath verified the proverb,
talking at large of Robin Hood, in whose bow he never shot.
Fullers Worthies, p. 315.
'One may justly wonder," adds the facetious writer,
" this archer did not at last hit the mark, I mean, come to
the gallows for his many robberies.''
The proverb is mentioned, and given as above, by sir Ed-
ward Coke in his 3d Institute, p. 197. See also note (W).
It is thus noticed by Jonson, in " The king's entertainment
at Welbeck in Nottinghamshire, 1633 :"
" This is father Fitz-Ale, herald of Derby, &c.
He can fiy o'er hills and dales.
And report you more odd tales
Of our out law Robin Hood,
That revell'd here in Sherewood,
And more stones of him show,
(Though he ne'er shot in his bow)
Than au' men or believe, or kno.v.
We likewise meet with it in Epigrams, &c. 1654 :
" In Virtutera.
" Vertne we praise, but practice not her good,
(Athenian-like; we act not what we know;
So many men doe talk of Robin Hood,
Who never yet shot arrow in his bow."
On the back of a ballad, in Anthony a Woods collection,
he has written,
" There be some that prate
Of Robin Hood, and of his bow.
Which never shot therein, 1 trow."
Ray gives it thus :
" Many talk of Ro
And many talk of
which Kelly has varyed, but without authority.
" Many talk of Robin Hood, that never shot in his bow.
And many talk of little John, that never did him know :"
XOTES A^'D TLl.USTRA'riO\S. CI
Camdens printer has separated the lines, as distinct pro-
verbs (Remains, 1674):
" Many speak of Robin Hood that never shot in his bow.
" Many a man talks of little John that never did him know."
This proverb likewise occurs in The do\TOfall of Robert
earle of Huntington, 1600, and is alluded to in a scarce and
curious old tract intitled " The contention betwyxte Church-
yeard and Camell, upon David Dycers Dreame &c." 1 560.
4to. b. 1.
" Your sodain stormes and thuudre claps, your boasts and braggs so londe :
Hath doone no harme tliogh Robin Hood spake with you in a cloud.
Go learne againe of litell Jhon, to shute in Robyn Hods bowe,
Or Dicars dreame shall be unhit, and all his whens, I trowe."*
The Italians appear to have a similar saying.
Moiti pailau di Oilando
Chi non viddtio mai siio brando.
3. To overshoot Robin Hood.
"And lastly and chiefly, they cry out with open mouth as
if they had overshot Robin Hood, that I'lato banislied them
[i.e. poets] out of his commonwealth." Sir P. Sidneys De-
fence of poesie.
4. Tales of Robin Hood are good [enough] for fools.
This proverb is inserted in Camdens Remains, printed
originally in 1605; but the word in brackets is supplyed
from Ray.
5. To sell Robin Hoods pennyvForths.
• In Chorchyards " Replication onto Camels objection," he tells the
latter;
" Your knowledge is great, your judgement is good,
The most of your study hath ben of Robyn Hood ;
And Bevys of Hampton, and syr Launcclot rie Lake,
Hath taujjht you full oft your verses to make."
VOL. I. h
CU NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
" It is spoken of things sold under half their value ; or if
you will, half sold half given. Robin Hood came lightly by
his ware, and lightly parted therewith; so that he could
afford the length of his bow for a yard of velvet, ^^'hither-
soever he came, he carried a fair along with him ; chapmen
crowding to buy his stollen commodities. But seeing The
receiver is as bad as the tliief, and such buyers are as bad as
receivers, the cheap pennyworths of plundered goods may in
fine prove dear enough to their consciences." Fullers Worthies,
p. 315.
This saying is alluded to in the old nortli-country song of
Randal a Bamaby:
" All men said, it became me well.
And Robin Hoods pennyworths 1 did sell."
6. Come, turn about, Robin Hood.
Implying that to challeii'j;e or defy our hero must have
been the ne plus ultra of courage. It occurs in Wit and
drollery, 1661.
" Oh Love, whose power and might,
No creature ere withstood.
Thou forcest me to write,
Come turn about Robin-hood."
7. As crook'd as Robin Hoods bow.
That is, we are to conceive, when bent by himself. Tlie
following stanza of a modern Irish song is the only authority
for this proverb that has been met with.
" The next with whom I did engage.
It was an old woman worn with age.
Her teeth were like tobacco peg?.
Besides she had two bandy legs.
Her back more crook'd than Robin Hoods bow.
Purblind and decrepid, unable to go ;
Altho' her years were sixty three.
She sniil'd at the humours of Soosthe Bue."
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. CllI
8. To go round by Robin Hoods barn.
This saying, wliich now first appears in print, is used to
imply the going of a short distance by a circuitous metliod,
or the farthest way about.
(Z) — " to swear by him, or some of his companions, ap-
pears to have been a usual practice."] The earlyest instance
of this practice occurs in a pleasant story among " Certaine
merry tales of the mad-men of Gottam," compiled in the
reign of Henry VIII. by Dr. Andrew Borde, an eminent
physician of that period, which here follows verbatim, as taken
from an old edition in black letter, without date, (in the
Bodleian library,) being the first tale in the book.
"There was two men of Gottam, and the one of them was
going to the market at Nottingham to buy sheepe, and the
other came from the market; and both met together upon
Nottingham bridge. Well met, said the one to the other.
Whither be yee going? said he that came from Nottingham.
Marry, said he that was going thither, I goe to the market to
buy sheepe. Buy sheepe ! said the other, and which way
wilt thou bring them home ? Marry, said the other, I will
bring them over this bridge. By Robin Hood, said he that
came from Nottingham, but thou shalt not. By maid Mar-
rion, said he that was going thitherward, but I will. Thou
shalt not, said the one. I will, said the other. Ter here !
said the one. Shue there ! said the other. Then they beate
their staves against the ground, one against the other, as there
had beene an hundred sheepe betwixt them. Hold in, said
the one. Beware the leaping over the bridge of my sheepe,
said the other. I care not, said the other. Tliey shall not
come this way, said the one. But they shall, said the other.
Then said the other, & if tliat thou make much to doe, I will
put my finger in thy mouth. A turd thou wilt, said the other.
CIV NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
And as they were at their contention, another man of Gottam
came from tlie market, \rith a sacke of meale upon a horse,
and seeing and hearing his neighbours at strife for sheepe,
and none betwixt them, said. Ah fooles, will you never learn
wit? Helpe rne, said he that had the meale, and lay my sack
upon my shoulder. Tiiey did so ; and he went to the one
side of the bridge, and unloosed the mouth of the sacke, and
did sliake out all his meale uito the river. Kow, neighbours,
said the man, how much meale is there in my sacke now ?
Marry, there is none at all, said tliey. Now, by my faith,
said he, even as much wit is in your two heads, to strive for
that thnig you have not. \Miich was the wisest of all tliese
three persons, judge you."*
" By the bare scalp of Robin Hoods fet frier,"
is an oatli put by Shakspeare into the mouth of one of his
outlaws in the Two gentlemen of \'erona, act 4. scene 1.
" Robin Hoods fat frier," is frier Tuck ; a circumstance of
which doctor Johnson, who set about explaining that author
with a very inadequate stock of information, was perfectly
ignorant.
(AA) — " his songs have been prefered not only, on the
most solemn occasion, to the psalms of David, but in feet to
the new testament."] "[On Friday, March 9th. 1733] was
executed at Northampton AMlliam Alcock for tlie murder of
his wife. He never own'd t!ie fact, nor was at all concern'd
at his approaching death, refusing the prayers and assistance
» See the orisjinal story, in wliiili two biollieis, of «lioiii one liad
wished for a* many oxen as he saw stars, the oilier for a pasture as wide
as tlie firmament, kill each other about the pasturage of the oxen, (from
Camer. oper. siibscis. cent. 1. c. 92. p. 4'29) in \VHnle\^ Little world of
man, ediiion of 1774. p. 426. Canierarius, it seems, had the story from
Scardeonius de rhiris riiuhiis Pataviiiis ; wheme it is also relaied in the
notes to Upton di- studiomilitari ; and .in older, of the like kind, is tu the
Faceti* of Poi^gius.
NOTES AND ILLUSTUaTIONS. CV
of any persons. In the morning he rlrank more than was
sufficient, yet sent and paid for a pint of wine, which being
deny'd him, he would not enter the cart before he had his
money return'd. On his way to the gallows he sung part of
an old song of Robin Hood, with the chorus, Derry, derry,
down,* &c. and swore, kick'd and spurn 'd at every person
that laid hold of the cart; and before he was turn'd off, took
oft' his shoes, to avoid a well known proverb; and being told
by a person in the cart with him, it was more proper for him
to read, or hear some body read to him, than so vilely to swear
and sing, he struck the book out of the persons hands, and
went on damning the spectators, and calling for wine. Whilst
psalms and prayers were performing at the tree, he did little
but talk to one or other, desiring some to remember him, others
to drink to his good journey; and to the last moment declared
the injustice of his case." (Gentleman's magazine, volume
III. page 154.)
To this maybe added, that at Edinburgh, in 1565," Sandy
Stevin menstrall" [i.e. musician] was convinced of blasphemy,
alledging, That he would give no moir credit to The new
testament, tlien to a tale of Robin Hood, except it wer con-
firmed be the doctours of the church." (Knox's Historie of
the reformation in Scotland. Edin. 1732, p. 368.)
William Roy, in a bitter satire against cardinal Wolsey,
intitled, " Rede me and be nott wrothe For I saye nothynge
but trothe," printed abroad, about 1525, speaking of the
bishops, says, —
* " Derry down is the burden of th€ old songs of the Druids sung by
their Bards and Vaids, to call the people to their religious asseniblys in
the groves. Doire in Irish (the old Punic) is a grove: corrupted into
derry. A famous Druid grove and academy at the place since called
Londonderry from thence." MS. note by Dr. Stukely, in his copy of
Robin Hoods garland. " Paul, Paul, thou art beside thyself!"
CVI NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
" Their frantyke foly is so pevisshe,
Tliat they contempne in Englisshe,
To have the new testament ;
But a? for tales of Robyn Hode,
With wother jestes nether honest nor goode.
They have none impediment."
To the same effect is the following passage in another old
libel upon tlie priests, intitled " I playne Piers which can not
flatter, a plowe-man men me call, &.c." b. 1. n. d. printed in
the original as prose :
" No Christen booke
Maye thou on looke,
Yf thou be an Englishe stmnt.
Thus dothe alyens us loutte.
By that ye spreade aboute,
After that old sorte and wonte.
You allowe they saye,
Legenda aurea,
Roben Hoode, Bevys, & Gower,
And all bagage be syd,
But gods word ye may not abyde.
These lyese are your chnrche ' dower.' "
See, also, before, p. Ixxxv.*
So, in Laurence Ramseys Practise of the divell, (n. d. 4to.
b.l.)
" Exclude the scriptures, and byd them reade the storie
Of Robin Hood, and Guye, which was both tall and stout.
And Bevis of Southampton, to seeke the matter out."
(BB) " His servnce to the word of god."] " I came once
myselfe," says bishop Latimer, (in his sixtli sermon before
• Mr. Boyd, the famous preacher in Childsdale, finding that several
of his hearers went away after the forenoon sermon, had this expression
in his afternoon prajers : " Now, lord, thou seest that many people go
away from hearing thy word ; but liad we told them stories of Robin
Hood, or Davie Lindsay, they had stayed; and yet none of these are near
so good as thy word that I preach." Scotch presbyterian eloquence,
1714, p. 15«.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. CVU
king Edward VI.) "to a place, riding on a jomeylionaevvard
from London, and I sent worde over night into the towne
that I would preach there in the morning, bicause it was a
holy day, and methought it was an holydayes worke. The
churche stode in my way ; and I tooke my horse and my
company and went thither (I thought I should have found a
great companye in the churche), and when I came there, the
churche dore was faste locked. I taried there half an hower
and more ; at last the keye was founde ; and one of the
parishe commes to me, and sayes. Sir, this is a busie day
with us, we cannot heare you ; it is Robin Hoodes daye.
The parishe are gone abroad to gatlier for Robin Hoode, I
pray you let them not. I was fayne there to geve place to
Robin Hoode. 1 thought my rochet shoulde have bene re-
garded, thoughe I were not ; but it woulde not serve, it was
feyne to geve place to Robin Hoodes men.
" It is no laughying matter, my frendes, it is a weepyng
matter, a hea\7 matter, under the pretence for gatherynge for
Robin Hoode, a tray tour* and a theefe,to put out a preacher,
to have his office lesse esteemed, to preferre Robin Hoode
before the ministration of gods worde, and all this hath come
of unpreaching prelates. Thys realme hath bene ill provided
for, that it hath had suche corrupte judgementes in it, to pre-
ferre Robin Hoode to gods worde. If the bishoppes had
bene preachers, there shoulde never have bene any such
thing, &c."
(CC)— " may be called the patron of archery."] The bow
and arrow makers, in particular, have always held his memory
• The bishop grows scurrilous. "I never heard," says Coke, attorney-
general, " that Robin Hood was a traitor, they say he was an outlaw."
(State trials, i. 218.— Raleigh had said, " Is it not strans^e for me to make
myself a Robin Hood, a Kett, or a Cade?")
CVlll NOriiS AND I LLUSTIIATIONS.
in tlio Utmost reverence. Thus, in the old ballad of Loudons
ordiiiHiy :
" TUe hosiers will diae at the Leg,
The diapeis at the sign of tlie Brush,
Tilt Iklclicrs to Rubin Ho«id will j;o,
And the spcndtlirill to Beggars-busli."*
Tlie picture of our hero is yet a common sign in the
country, and, before hanging-signs were abolislied in London,
must have been still more so in the city; there being at pre-
sent no less than a dozen alleys, courts, lanes, &c. to which
he or it has given a name. (See Baldwins New complete
guide, 1770.) The Kobin-Hood-society, a club or assembly
for public debate, or school for oratory, is well known. It
was held at a public house, wliich had once borne the sign,
and still retained the name of tliis great man, in Butcher-row,
near Temple-bar.
It is verj' usual, in the nortli of England, for a publican,
whose name fortunately happens to be John Little, to have
the sign of Robin Hood and his constant attendant, with this
quibbling subscription :
You gentlemen, and yeomen good.
Come in and drink with Robin Hood;
If Robin Hood be not at liome,
Ci>ine in and drink wiili Little John.t
An honest countryman, admiring the conceit, adopted the
• This ballad seems to have been written in imitation of a song in Hey-
voods Rape of Lucrece, 1630, beginning—
"The gentry to the Kings-head,
The nobles to the crown, &c."
+ In Arnolds Essex harmony, (ii. 98.) he gives the inscription, as a
catch for three voices, of his own composition, thus:
" My beer is stout, my ale is good.
Pray stay and drink w ith Robin Hood ;
If Robin Ho.id abroad i? gone,
Pray st:iv and drink with little John."
NOTES AND ILLUSTIIATIOXS. CIX
lines, with a slight, but, as he thought, necessary alteration,
viz.
If Robin Hood be not at home,
Come in and drink with — Simon Webster.
Drayton, describing the various ensigns or devices of the
English counties, at the battle of Agincourt, gives to
" Old Nottingham, an archer clad in green,
Under a tree with liis drawn bow that stood.
Which in a chequer'd flag far oft' was seen ;
It was the picture of old Robin Hood."
(DD) — " the supernatural povpers he is, in some parts,
supposed to have possessed."] " In the parish of Halifax
is an immense stone or rock, supposed to be a druidical
monument, there called Robin Hood's pennystone, which he
is said to have used to pitch with at a mark for his amuse-
ment. There is likewise another of these stones, of several
tons weight, which the country-people will tell you he threw
off an adjoining hill with a spade as he was digging. Every
thing of the marvellous kind being here attributed to Robin
Hood, as it is in Cornwall to K. Arthur." (Watsons His-
tory of Halifax, p. 27.)
At Birchover, six miles south of Bakewell, and four from
Haddon, in Derbyshire, among several singular groupes of
rocks, are some stones called Robin Hoods stride, being two
of the highest and most remarkable. The people say Robin
Hood lived here.
(EE) — " having a festival allotted to him, and solemn
games instituted in honour of his memory, &.c."] These
games, which were of great antiquity, and different kinds,
appear to have been solemnized on the first and succeeding
days of May; and to owe their original establishment to
the cultivation and improvement of the manly exercise of
archery, which was not, in former times, practised merely
for tlie sake of aiiui.^emeiit.
ex NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
" I find," says Stow, " that in the moneth of ]May, the
citizens of London, of all estates, lightlie in every parish, or
sometimes two or three parishes joyning together, liad their
severall mayinges, and did fetch in INIaj'poles, with divers
warlike shewes, witli good archers, morrice-dancers, and other
devices for pastime all tlie day long : and towards the evening
they had stage-playes and bonefires in the streetes
These greate Mayinges and Maygames, made by the gover-
nors and masters of this citie, with the triumphant setting up
of the greate shafte, (a principall INIaypole in Comhill, before
the parish, church of S. Andrew, tlierefore called Undershafte)
by meane of an insurrection of youthes against alianes on
Mayday, 1517, the ninth of Ilenrj' the eight, have not beene
so freely used as afore." (Survay of London, 1398. p. 72.)
Tlie disuse of these ancient pastimes, and the consequent
" neglect of archerie," are thus pathetically lamented by
Richard Niccolls, in his Londons artillery, 1616 :
" How is it that our London hath laid downe
This worthy practise, wliich was once the crowne
Of all her pastime, when her Robin Hood
Had wont each yeare, when May did clad the wood.
With lustie grccne, to lead his yong men out.
Whose brave demeanour, oft when they did shoot.
Invited royall princes from their courts.
Into the wilde woods to behold their sports!
Who thought it tlien a manly sight and trim.
To see a youth of cleane compacted lim, A description
Who, with a comely grace, in his left hand of one drawing
Holding his bow, did take his stedfast stand, a bow.
Setting his left leg somewhat foorth before.
His arrow with his right hand nocking sure.
Not stooping, nor yet standing streight upright.
Then, with his left hand little 'bove his sight,
Stretching his arm out, with an easie strength,
To draw an arrow of a yard in length."*
* This description is finely illustrated by an excellent wood cut at the
head of one of Anthony a Woods old ballads iu the Ashmoleian museum.
The frontispiece to Gervas Markhams Archerie, 1634, is, likewise, a man
draw iiig a how.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. CXI
The lines,
" Invited royall princes from their courts
Into the wild woods to behold their sports,"
may be reasonably supposed to allude to Henry VIII. who
appears to have been particularly attached, as well to the
exercise of archery, as to tlie observance of May. Some
short time after his coronation, says Hall, he " came to
Westminster, with the queue, and all their traine : and on a
tjTne being there, his grace therles of Essex, ^^'ilshire, and
other noble menne, to the numbre of twelve, came sodainly
in a momyng into the quenes chambre, all appareled in
short cotes of Kentish Kendal, with hodes on their heddes,
and hosen of the same, every one of them his bowe and
an-owes, and a sworde and a bucklar, like outlawes, or
' Robyn' Hodes men ; whereof the quene, the ladies, and al
other there were abashed, aswell for the straunge sight, as
also for their sodain commyng : and after certajTi daunces
and pastime made thei departed." (Hen. \'III. fo. 6, b.)
The same author gives the following curious account of " A
mai}'nge" in the 7th year of this monarch (1316): " Tlie
kyng &; the quene, accompanied with many lordes & ladies,
roade to the high grounde on Shoters hil to take the open
ayre, and as they passed by the way they espied a company
of tall yomen, clothed all in grene, with grene whodes &
bowes and arrowes, to the number of ii. C. Then one of
them whiche called hymselfe Robyn Hood, came to the
kyng, desyring hym to se his men shote, &c the kyng was
content. Then he whisteled, and all the ii. C. archers shot
& losed at once; and then he whisteled again, and they
likevs^se shot agayne ; their arrowes whisteled by craft of the
head, so that the noyes was straunge and great, and muehe
pleased the kyng, the quene, and all the company. All
CXll NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
these archers were of the kynges garde, and had thus appa-
reled themselves to make solace to the kynge. Tlien Robyn
Hood desyred the kyng and queue to come into the grene
wood, and to se how the outlawes lyve. The kj-ng de-
maunded of the quene and her ladyes, if they durst adven-
ture to go into the wood witli so many outlawes. Then the
quene said, if it pleased hym, she was content. Then the
homes blewe tyll they came to the wood under Shoters-hill,
and there was an arber made of bowes, with a hal, and a
great chamber, and an inner chamber, ver)' well made and
covered with Houres and swete herbes, which the kyng muche
praised. Then sayd RobjTi Hood, Sir, outlawes brekefastes
is venyson, and therefore you must be content with such fare
as we use. Tlien the kyng and quene sate doune, and were
sened with venyson and ^yne by Robyn Hood and his men,
to their great contentacion. Then tlie kyng departed and
his cor.ipany, and Robyn Hood and his men them con-
duicted ; and as they were retumyng, there met with them
two ladyes in a ryche chariot drawen with v. horses, and
every horse had his name on his head, and on every horse
sat a lady with her name written .... and in the chayre
sate the lady May, accompanied with lady Flora, richely
appareled; and they saluted the kyng \\-ith diverse goodly
songes, and so brought hym to Grenewyche. At this maiyng
was a greate number of people to beholde, to their great
solace and confort." (fo. Ivi, b.)
Tliat this sort of Alay-games was not peculiar to London,
appears from a passage in Richard Robinson's " Third asser-
tion Englishe historicall, frendly in favour and furtherance
of English archery:'"*
* See " The amicient order societie and unitio laudable of prince
Arthiire and his knightly armory of the round table. . . Traiulattd and
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. CXui
" And, lieare because of archery I do by penne explane,
The use, the prottet, and the praise, to England by the same,
Myselte remembreth of a cliildc in contreye native mine, (1553)
A May-game was of Robyn Hood, and of his traine that time, (7. E. 6.)
To traine up young men, stripplings and, eche other younger childe,
III shooting, yearely this with solempne feast was by the gnylde
Or brotherhood of townsmen don, with sport, with joy, and love.
To protfet which in present tyme, and afterward did prove."
The games of Robin Hood seem to have been occasion-
ally of a dramatic cast. Sir John Paston, in the time of
K. Edward IV. complaining of the ingratitude of his ser-
vants, mentions one who had promised never to desert him,
" and ther uppon," says he, " 1 have kepyd hym thys iii
yer to pleye seynt Jorge, and Robyn Hod and the shryf off
Notyngham,* and now when I wolde have good horse he is
goon into Bernysdale, and I withowt a keeper."
collected by R. R. London, Imprinted by John Wolfe dwelling in Dis-
tafi'e-lane ueere the siirne of the (!astle. 1583." 4lo. b. 1. It appears
from this publication that on the revival of London archery in queen
Elizabeths time, " the v\orshipfull socyety of archers," instead of calling
themselves after Robin Hood and his companions, took the names of
" the magnificent prince Arthure and his knightly traine of the round
table." It is, probably, to one of the annual meetings of this identical
society, tiiat m.ister Shallow alludes, in The second part of K. Henry IV.
" I remember," says he, " at Mile-end green [their usual place of exer-
cise,]— I was then Sir Dagonet in Arthur's shew, &c." (See also Stee-
ven.s's Shakspeare, 1793. ix. 142.) The successors of the above "friendly
and frank fellowship" assumed the ridiculous appellations of duke of
Shoreditch, marquis of Clarkenwell, earl of Pancridge, &c. See Woods
Bownians glory, 1682.
• Meaning that his sole or chief employment had been in Christmas
or May-games, Whitsun-ales, and such like idle diversions. See Oii-
ginal letters, &c. ii. 134.
In an old circular wood cut, preserved on the title of Robin Hoods
Garland, 1670, as well as on that of Adam Bell, &c. printed at New-
castle in 1772, is the apparent repiesentation of a may game, consisting
of the following personages: i. A bishop. 2. Robin Hood. 3. The
potter (or begger). 4. Little John. 5. Frier Tuck. 6. Maid Marian.
Figures 2 and 4 are distinguished by their bows, and dilterent size. The
frier holds out a cross ; and Marian has flowing hair, and wears a sort
of coronet. But the execution of the whole is too rude to merit a
copy.
CXIV NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
In some old accounts of the church-wardens of Saint He-
lens at Abingdon, Berks, for the year 1556, there is an entry
For setting up Robins Hoodes Bower; I suppose, says War-
ton, for a parish interlude. (See History of English poetrj',
ii. 175.)*
At lord FitzwiUiams's at Richmond, there 's, or lately was, a curious
painting, by Vinckenboonis, representing old Richmond palace, with a
group of niorris-dancors. It has been badly ent;raved by Godfrey, who
reduced the figures to too small a scale. Mr. Douce has a tracing from
the original picture with all the figures distinctly marked. Sec a poem
at the end of Hall's Downfall of May-games, 1661. 4to.
• The precise purpose or meaning of setting up Robin Hoods bower
has not been satisfactorily ascertained. Mr. Hearne, in an attempt to
derive the name of " The Chiltern country" (Clltejin, Saxon) from
silex, a flint, has the following words: " Certe Silcestriam, &c. i.e.
Certainly Silchester, in Hampshire, signifies nothing but the city of
flints (that is, a city composed or built of flint-stones). And what is
more, in that very Chiltern country you may frequently see houses built
of flints, in erecting which, in ancient times, I suppose that many per-
sons involved themselves deeply in debt, and that, in order to extricate
themselves, they took up money at interest of I know not what great
men, which so far disturbed their minds that they would become thieves,
and do many things in no wise agreeable to the English government.
Hence, the nobility ordered that large woods in the Chiltern country
should, in a great measure, be cut down, lest they should conceal any
considerable body of robbers, who were wont to convert the same into
lurking places. It concerns this matter to call to mind, that of this sort
of robbers was that Robin or Robert Hood, of whom the vulgar dayly
sing so many wonderful things. He (being now made an outlaw) be-
fore he retired into the north parts, frequently robing in the Chiltern
country, lurked in the thickets thereof on purpose that he should not be
taken. Thence it was, that to us boys, (exhilarating, according to cus-
tom, the mind with sports) certain countrymen, with whom we had
accidentallj- some conversation, shewed us that sort of den or retreat
(vulgarly called Robin Hood's bower) in Maydenhead-thicket ; which
thicket is the same that Lcland in his Itinerary, called Frith, by which
name the Anglo-Saxons themselves spoke of thickets. For although
pfliiS in reality signlfys peace, yet since numerous groves with them
(as well as before with the Britons) were deemed sacred, it is by no
means to be wondered at that a great wood (because manifestly an
asylum) should, in the judgment of the Anglo-Saxons, be called by no
other name than pjlloCJ": and that Maydenhead-thicket was esteemed
among the greater woods Leiand himself is a witness. Rightly therefor
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. CXV
In some places, at least, these games were nothing more
in effect, than a morris-dance, in which Robin Hood, Little
John, Maid INIarian, and frier Tuck were the principal per-
sonages ; the others being a clown or fool, the hobby-horse,
(which appears, for some reason or other, to have been fre-
quently forgot,*) the taborer, and the dancers, who were more
or less numerous. Thus Warner :
" At Paske began our morrise, and ere penticost our May,
Tho Roben Hood, liell John, frier Tucke, and Marian deftly play.
And lard and ladie ^ang till kirke with lads and lasses gay."t
Perhaps the clearest idea of these last-mentioned games,
did Robin Hood (as ppi<S-bena) reckon himself to abide there in
security. (Clironicon de Dunstaple, p. 387.) What he means by all
this is, doubtless, sutficiently obscure : the mere name, however, of Robin
Hoods bower seems a very feeble authority for concluding that gallant
outlaw to have robed or skulked in the Chiltern-hiindreds.
It may seem, perhaps, from a passage in Brownes Britannias Pasto-
rals (Song 4), that Bobin Hoods bower was prepared for the reception
of himself and his Marian, as king and queen of May. The lines are
these :
" As I have seene the lady of the May
Set in an arbour, on a holy-day,
Built by the May-pole, where the jocund swains.
Dance with the maidens to the bagpipes strains."
* See Steevenses Shakspeare, 1793. x. 18C.
+ Albions England, 1602, p. I'il. It is part of the " Northerne mans
speech against the friers." He adds :
" At Baptis-day with ale and cakes bout bonfires neighbours stood.
At Martle masse wa turnd a crabbc, thiike told of Roben Hood,
Till after long time myrke, when blest were windowes, dares and lights.
And pails were fild, and hathes were swept, gainst fairie elves and sprits :
Rock and plow Mondaies gams . . . with saint-feasts and kirk-lights."
A very learned and ingenious gentleman conceives that the enumera-
tion of characters in the passage quoted in the text belongs solely to the
May, and has no relation whatever to the morrise. That the two games,
however, though essentially distinct in their origin, got somehow or
other blended together appears unquestionable.
" As fit as a morris for May-day" is one of the clowns similics in
All's well that ends well ('ct 2, scene 2).
CXVl TfOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
about the beginning of the 16th century, will be derived
from some curious extracts given by Mv. Lysons, in his valu-
able work intitled " The environs of London," (\'ol. I. 1792.
p. 226) from the contemporary accounts of the " church-
wardens of the parish of Kingston upon Tliames."
" Robin Hood and May-game.
" 23 Hen. 7. To the raenstorell upon May-day 4
For paynting of the mores garments and for
sarten gret leveres * 2 4
For paynting of a bannar for Robin Hode 3
For 2 jM. & i pyimys 10
For 4 plyts and ^ of laun for the mores gar-
ments 0211
For orsedenf for the same 10
* " The word livery was formerly used to signify any thing delivered ;
see the Northumberland household book, p. 60. IT it ever bore such an
acceptation at that time, one might be induced to .suppose, from the fol-
lowing entries, that it here meant a badge, or something of that kind :
15 C. of leveres for Robin Hode 050
For leveres, paper and sateyn 20
For pynnes and leveres 065
For 13 C. of leverys 044
For 24 great lyvereys 004
We are told that formerly, in the celebration of May-games, the youth
divided themselves into tv>o troops, the one in winter livery, tlie other
in the habit of the spring. See Brands Popular antiquities, p. 2G1."
This quotation is misapplied. Liveiies, in the present instance, are
pieces of paper or sateyn «itli some device thereon, which were distri-
buted for money among the spectators. So in a passage which will be
shortly quoted from J acke Drums entertainment: "Well said, my boyes,
I must have my lords livory ; what is't '! a May-pole V See also Stubs'g
Anatomie nf abuses, 1583, sig. M. 2. 6. and Skeltons Don Quixote, part
2. chap. 22.
" + Though it varies considerably from that word, this may be a cor-
ruption of orpiment, which was much in use for colouring the morris
garments." How orseden can be a corruption of orpiment is not very
easy to conceive: it may as well be supposed to mean worsted or buck-
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. CXVU
For a goun for tlie lady 8
For bellys for the dawnsars 12
24 Hen. 7. For little John's cote 8
1 Hen. 8. For silver paper for tlie mores dawnsars 7
For Kendall for Robyn Hode's cote ..013
For 3 yerds of white for the frere's* cote .030
For 4 yerds of kendall for mayde Marian's f
hukej 034
For saten of sypers for die same huke ..006
For 2 payre of glovys for Robin Ilode and
mayde Maryan 3
For 6 brode arovys 6
ram. Mr. Steevens thinks that this orseden is the Arse-dine of old Joan
Trash, in Jonsons Bartkolomew-fair, and means flame-coloured jmint,
used to hobby-horses. The 4 giants for the revived Midsummer shew at
Chester, in 1668, were " to be cullered tinsille arsedine." (MSS. Har.
2150. fo. 373, b.)
" * The friar's coat was generally of russet, as it appears by the fol-
lowing extracts . . . ." The coat of this mock frier would, doubt-
less, be made of the same stutf as that of a real one.
" t Marian was the assumed name of the beloved mistress of Robert
earl of Huntingdon, whilst he was in a state of outlawry, as Robin Hood
was his. See Mr. Steeven's note to a passage in Shakspere's Heury IV.
This character in the morris-dances was generally represented by a boy.
See Strutt's view of customs and manners, vol. iii. p. 150. It appears
by one of the extracts, given above, that at Kingston it was performed
by a woman, who was paid a shilling each year for her trouble."
" I Mr. Steevens suggests, ivith great probability, ihm this word may
have the same meaning as howve or houve, used by Chaucer for a head-
dress ; maid Marian's head-dress was always very fine : indeed some
persons have derived her name from the Italian word morione, a head-
dress." Mr. Steevens was never less happy than he is in this very pro-
bable conjecture. The word howve or houve, in Chaucer, is a mere va-
riation of hood : and maid Maiians head-dress must, to be sure, have been
" very fine" when made of 4 yards of broad cloth ! A huke is a womans
gown or habit. (Huke, palla, toga, pallium Btlgicis feminis usitatum.
Shin.) Skeltou mentions it in his Elinour Rumming :
" Her huke of Lyncole grene."
" All women in generall," says Moryson, speaking of the Netherlands,
" when they goe out of the house, put on a hoykc or vaile, which covers
VOL. I. i
CXVm NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
To mayde Marjan for her labour for two
years 020
To Fygge the taborer 6
. Kec* for RobjTi Hod's gaderyng 4 marks*
5 Hen. 8. Rec^ for Robin Hood's gaderj-ng at
Croydon 094
11 Hen. 8. Paid for three broad yerds of rosett
for makyng the frer's cote 3 6
Shoes for the mores daunsars, the frere and
mayde Maryan at 7^ a payre .... 5 4
13 Hen. 8. Eight yerds of fustyan for the mores
daunsars coats 0160
A dosyn of gold skynnes for the morresf . . 10
13 Hen. 8. Hire of hats for Robynhode . . . 16
Paid for the hat that was lost .... 10
16 Hen. 8. Rec* at the church-ale and Robyn-
hode all things deducted 3 10 6
Paid for 6 yerds I of satyn for Robyn
Hode's cotys 12 6
For makyng the same 2
For 3 ells of locrami 16
their heads, and han£;s downe vpon their backs to their legges, &c."
(Itinerary, 1617, p.irt 3, p. 169.)
Sir John Ciillum seems to have mistaken Rose Sparkes " best hook"
lor a " hook worn, at the bottom of the stays, to regulate the sitting of
the apron." (.History of Hawsted, p. 25.) Morione, in Italian, signifies
a murrion or scull-cap; and, though the derivation alluded to appears to
have the sanction of Blounts Glosographia, nothing can be more com-
pletely absurd. Marian is Mary.
"And Marians nose looks rede and raw."
" * It appears that this, as well as other games, was made a parish
concern."
" t Probably gilt leather, the pliability of which was particularly ac-
commodated to the motion of the dancers."
" t A sort of coarse linen."
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. CXIX
21 Hen. 8. For spunging and brushing Robyn-
hode's cotys 002
28Hen.8. Fivehatsand4porsesforthedaunsars 4^
4 yerds of cloth for the fole's cote ... 2
2 ells of worstede for mayde Maryans
kyrtle 068
For 6 payre of double soUyd showTie ..046
• To the mynstrele 10 8
To the fiyer and the piper for to go to
Croydon 008
29 Hen. 8. Mem. Lefte in the keping of the
wardens nowe beinge.
A frj'ers cote of russet and a kyrtele of a worstyde weltj'd
with red cloth, a mowrens * cote of buckram, and 4 morres
daunsars cotes of white fustian spangelyd and two gryne
saten cotes and a dysardd's t cote of cotton and 6 payre of
garters with bells."
These games appear to have been discontinued at King-
ston, as a parochial undertaking at least, after the above
period, as the industrious inquirer found no further entries
relating to them.
Some of the principal characters of the Morris seem to
have gradually disappeared, so that at length it consisted only
of the dancers, the piper, and the fool. In Mr. Toilets win-
dow we find neither Robin Hood nor Little John, though
Marian and the frier are stil distinguished performers.]: But
in the scene of one, introduced in the old play of Jacke
" * Probably a Moor's coat ; the word Morion is sometimes used to
express a Moor.— The morris dance is by some supposed to have been
originally derived from Moorish-dance. Black buckram appears to have
been much used forthe dressesof the ancient mummers. One of the figures
in Mr. Toilet's window, is supposed to be a morisco."
" + Disard is an old word for a fool."
j In Ben Jonsons " Masque of the metamorphosed gipsies," presented
CXX NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Drums entertainment, first printed in 1601, there is not tlie
least symptom of any of the four* " The taber and pipe
strike up a morrice. A shoute witliin : A lord, a lord, a lord,
who ! t
Ed. Oh, a morrice is come, observe our country sports,
Tis Whitson tyde,i and we must frolick it.
Enter the morrice.
The song.
Skip it, and trip it, nimbly, nimbly,
Tickle it, tickle it lustily.
Strike up the taber, for the wenches favour.
Tickle it, tickle it lustily.
Let us be seen, on Hygate greene.
To dance for the honour of Holloway.
Since we are come hither, let's spare for no leather,
To dance for the honour of Holloway.
Ed. Well said, my boyes, I must have my lords livory : what is't ? a
to K. James in 1621, (the very date, by the way, which appears on Mr.
Toilets window, we have the following dialogue between Cochret and Clod :
"Coc. Oh the lord! what be these? . . .
Clo. They should be morris-dancers by their gingle, but they have no
napkins.
Coc. No, nor a hobby-horse.
Clo. Oh, he's often forgotten, that's no rule ; but there is no tnaid
Marian nor friar amongst them, which is the surer mark.
Coc. Nor a fool that I see." (Toilets Memoir. J
• Neither is any notice taken of them, where the characters of the
morris-dance are mentioned, in The two noble kinsmen, by Shakspeare
and Fletcher.
+ This was a usual cry on occasions of mirth and jollity. Thus, in the
celebration of St. Stephens day, in the Inner-Temple hall, as we find it
described in Dugdales Origines jnridiciales : "Supper ended, the con-
stable-marshall ' presenteth' himself with drums afore him, mounted
upon a scaffold, born by four men; and goeth three times round about
the harthe, crying out aloud, A lord, a lord, &c. Then he descendeth
and goeth to dance, &c." (p. 156.)
t " 'Tis meet we all go forth.
To view the sick and feeble parts of France :
And let us do it with no show of fear ;
No, with no more, that if we heard that England
Were busied with a Whitsun morris-dance."
Shak. K. Hen. V. act II. scene 4.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. CXXl
maypole ? Troth, 'twere a good body for a courtiers impreza, if it had
but this life, Frustra florescit. Hold cousin, hold.
He gives the fool money,
Foole. Thankes, cousin, when the lord my fathers audit comes, wee'l
repay you againe. Your benevolence too, sir.
Mam. What 1 a lords sonne become a begger I
Foole. Why not? when beggers are become lords sons. Come, 'tis
but a trifle.
Mam. Oh, sir, many a small make a great.
Foole. No, sir, a few great make a many small. Come, my lords,
poore and necde hath no law.
S. Ed. Nor necessitie no right. Drum, downe with them into the
celler. Rest content, rest content ; one bout more, and then away.
Foole. ' Spoke' like a true heart : I kisse thy foote, sweet knight.
TTie morrice sing and dance and exeunt.
It is therefore highly probable, as hath been already sug-
gested, that the may-game of Robin Hood and the morris
dance had originally no sort of connection ; that the performers
had united their forces, because their joint efforts proved more
successful, lucrative, or agreeable ; and that, in fine, the latter
gradually shook off companions from whose association they
no longer derived any advantage.*
An old writer, describing a country bridal shew, exhibited
before Q. Ehzabeth, at Kenilworth castle, in 1575, mentions
" a lively raoris dauns, according too the auncient manner,
six daunsers, mawd Marion, and the fool."
Stubses chapter, upon "Lords of mis-rule," (Anatomie of
abuses, 1583J contains a singular description of a grand
parochial morris-dance, which is worthy of perusal.
It is observable that, in the sham 2d part of lludihras,
published 1663, this place is said to be
" Highly famed for Hocktide games."
* Perhaps also, Robin Hood and his party had never appeared in com-
pany with the morris dancers but at one particular period, in the be-
ginning of May, whereas we find that Whitsuntide was no less devoted
to the latter.
CXXll NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
(Greys edition of Hudibras, ii, 90.) Of what nature these
were (at Kingston) we are not informed. See Plots Natural
history of Oxfordshire ; Lelands Collectanea, V. ; Koss.
Hocktide or Hock-dai/ was the Tuesday fortnight after
Easter. Two falsehoods are asserted of this festival : one,
that its celebration was owing to the general joy excited by
the death of Hardecnute, which in fact took place on the
8th of June : the other that it was the anniversary of tlie
general slaughter of the Danes in 1042; which Henry of
Huntingdon and others expressly fix on St. Brice's day,
being the 1 3th of November.
It plainly appears, by these extracts, that Rohj/n Hode,
Little John, the frere and mayde Muryan, were fitted out
at the same time with the mores daunsurs, and, consequently,
it would seem, united with them in one and the same ex-
hibition.*
"Also it was said, that the ladie hir selfe, the same daie
hir husband and she should be crowned, said that she feared
they should prove but as a summer king and queene, such as
in countrie townes the yoong folks choose for short to danse
about maipoles." Ilolinshed, at the year 1306.
As to the original institution of may-poles, or king and
queen of May, — in a word, of the primitive purpose and
celebration of a popular festival at that season, — nothing
satisfactory or consequential can be discovered. The curious
reader, at the same time, may consult Spelmans Glossary,
voce Maiuma, and Ducange, vv. Majuma, Maius.
* It must be confessed, that no other direct anthority has been met
■with for constituting Robin Hood and Little John integral characters
of the morris-dancc. That maid Marian, however, and the frier, were
almost constantly such, is proved beyond the possibility of a doubt ;
and why or how they should become so, without Robin Hood, at least,
is unaccountable.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. CXXUI
In an old manuscript musick book given lately by Mr.
Dalzsel to the advocates library are the following scraps of
songs about Robin Hood.
jj,^
"First when Robin good bow bare.
Was never bairne so bold,
Doune, doune, berrie, doune, doune."
"Now will ye hear a jollie jest.
How Robin Hood was pope of Rome,
And Wallace king of France."
"Jolly Robin goe to the green wood to thy lemman."
"The nock is out of Johnes bow, Joly, joly, &c."
Much curious matter on the subject of the morris-dance is
to be found in " Mr. Toilet's opinion concerning the morris-
dancers upon his window." (See Steevens's Shakspeare, v.
425. (edition, 1778) or viii. 596. (edition, 1793). See also
Mr. Waldrons notes upon the Sad Shepherd, 1783, p. 255.
Morris-dancers are said to be yet annually seen in Norfolk,*
and make tlieir constant appearance in Lancashire, t
• This county would seem to have been famous for their exertions a
couple of centuries ago. Will Kemp the player was a celebrated morris-
dancer; and in the Bodleian library is the following scarce and curious
tract by him : " Kemps nine dales wonder performed in a daunce from
London to Norwich. Containing the pleasure, paines and kind enter-
tainment of William Kemp between London and that city in his late
morrice. Wherein is somewhat set downe worth note ; to reproove the
slaunders spred of him, many things merry, nothing hurtfull. Written
by himself to satisfie his friends. London, printed by E. A. for Nicholas
Ling. 1600." 4to b. 1. On the tille-page is a wooden-cut-figiirc of Kemp
as a morris-dancer, preceded by a fellow with a pipe and drum, whom
he, in the book, calls Thomas Slye his taberer.— See, in Richard Brath-
waytes Remains after death, 1618, some lines "upon Kempe and his
morice, with his epitaph."
t " On Monday [July 30] the morris-dancers of Pendleton paid their
annual visit in Salford. They were adorned with all the variety of
colours that a profusion of ribbons could give them, and had a very
showy garland." Star, Aug. 9. 1792.
CXXIV NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
In Scotland, " Tlie game of Robin Hood was celebrated
in the month of INIay. The populace assembled previous to
the celebration of this festival, and chose some respectable*
member of the corporation to officiate in the character of
Robin Hood, and another in tliat of Little John his squire.
Upon the day appointed, which was a Sunday or holyday,
the people assembled in military array, and went to some ad-
joining field, where, either as actors or spectators, the whole
inhabitants of the respective towns were convened. In tliis
field they probably amused tliemselves with a representation
of Robin Hood's predatory exploits, or of his encounters with
the officers of justice [rather, perhaps, in feats of archery or
military exercises].
"As numerous meetings for disorderly mirth are apt to
engender tumult, when the minds of the people came to be
E^itated with religious controversy, it was found necessary
to repress the game f of Robin Hood by public statute. Tlie
populace were by no means willing to relinquish tlieir fa-
* " Council register, v. 1. p. 30."
+ "Mary, parliament 6. c. 61. A. D. 1555." " Anentis Robert Hnde,
and abbot of Unreason. Item, It is statute and ordained, tliat in all
times dimming, na maner of person be chosen Robert Hude, nor Little
John, abbot of unreason, queenis of Maij, nor uthemise, noiither in
burgh, nor to landwart, in onie time to cum : and gif ony provest,
baillies, councell, and comnuinitie, chuse sik ane personage as Robert
Hude, Little John, abbotis of unreason, orqueenis of Maij, within burgh,
the chusers of sik sail tine their freedome for the space of live zeires ;
and utherwise salbe punished at the queenis grace will ; and the ac-
ceptar of sik like office sail be banished foorth of the realme : and gif
ony sik persones .... beis chosen out-with burgh, and uthers landward
towucs, the chusers sail pay to onr soveraine ladie ten poundes, and
their persones [be] put in waird there to rcmaine during the queenis
grace pleasure." Abbot of unreason is the character better known in
England by the title of abbot or lord of misrule, "who," says Percy,
"in the houses of our nobility presided over the Christinas gambols, and
promoted mirth and jolity at that festive season." Northumberland
household book, (notes,) p. 441.
NOTES AKD ILLUSTRATIONS. CXXV
vourite amusement. Year after year the magistrates of
Edinburgh were obliged to exert their authority* in repres-
sing this game; often ineffectually. In the year 1561, the
mob were so enraged at being disappointed in making a
Robin Hood, that they rose in mutiny, seized on the city-
gates, committed robberies upon sti-angers ; and one of the
ringleaders being condemned by the magistrates to be hanged,
the mob forced open the jail, set at liberty the criminal and
all the prisoners, and broke in pieces the gibbet erected at
the cross for executing the malefactor. They next assaulted
the magistrates, who were f sitting in the council-chamber,
and who fled to the tolbooth for shelter, where the mob
attacked them, battering the doors, and pouring stones through
the windows. Application was made to the deacons of the
corporations to appease the tiimult. Remaining, however,
unconcerned spectators, they made this answer : " They will
be magistrates alone ; let them rule the people alone." The
magistrates were kept in confinement till tliey made procla-
mation be published, offering indemnity to the rioters upon
laying down their arms. Still, however, so late as the year
1592, we find the general assembly complaining of tlie pro-
fanation of the sabbath, by making J of Robin Hood plays."
(Arnots History of Edinburgh, p. 77.)
Notwithstanding the above representation, it is certain that
these amusements were considerably upon the decline before
the year 1568. This appears from a poem by Alexander
Scot, preserved in the Hyndford MS. (in the advocates
library, compiled and written in that identical year,) and
inaccurately printed in The ever-green :
* " Council register, v. 4. p. 4. 30."
+ " Knox's history, p. 270."
% " Book of universal kirk, p. 414." See also Keiths History of
Scotland, p. 216.
CXXVl NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
" In May qiilicn men zcid everichone
With Robene Hoid ami Littill Joline,
To bring in bowis and biikin bubbynis :
Now all sic game is fastlingis gone,
Bot gif it be amangis cloviu Robbynis."
(FF) — " His bow, and one of his arrows, his chair, his
cap, and one of his slippers were preserved till within the
present century." " We omitted," says Ray, " the sight of
Fountain's abbey, where Robin Hood's bow is kept." (Iti-
neraries, 1760, p. 161.)
" Having pleased ourselves with the antiquities of * No-
tingham,' we took horse and went to visit the well and
ancient chair of Robin Hood, which is not far from hence,
within the forest of Sherwood. Being placed in the chair,
we had a cap, which they say was his, verj' fomially put
upon our heads, and having performed the usual ceremonies
befitting so great a solemnity, we receiv'd the freedom of the
chair, and were incorporated into the society of that re-
nowned brotherhood." (Bromes Travels over England, &c.
1700, p. 83.)
" On one side of this forest [sci. of Sherwood] towards
Nottingham," says the author of " The travels of Tom Thumb
over England and Wales," (i. e. Robert Dodsley,) " I was
shewni a chair, a bow, and arrow, ail said to have been his
[Robin Hoods] property." (p. 82.)
" I was pleased with a slipper, belonging to the famous
Robin Hood, shewn me, fifty years ago, at St. Anns well,
near Nottingham, a place upon the borders of Sherwood
forest, to which he resorted." (Journey from Bu-mingham to
London, by W. Hutton. Bir. 1785, p. 174.)
(GG) — " not only places which afforded him security or
amusement, but even the well at which he quenched his
thirst, still retain his name."] Robin-hoods-bay is botli a
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. CXXVH
bay and a village, on the coast of Yorkshire, between Whitby
and Scarborough. It is mentioned by Leland as " a fiscber
tounlet of 20. bootes caullid Robyn Huddes bay, a dok or
bosom of a mile yn length." (Itinerary, i. 53.) " When his
robberies," says master Charlton, " became so numerous,
and the outcries against him so loud, as almost to alarm the
whole nation, parties of soldiers were sent down from London
to apprehend him : and then it was, tliat fearing for his
safety, he foimd it necessary to desert his usual haunts, and,
retreating northward, to cross the moors that surrounded
\Miitby, [one side whereof happens, a little unfortunately,
to lye open to the sea,] where, gaining the sea-coast, he
always had in readiness near at hand some small fishing
vessels, to which he could have refuge, if he found himself
pursued; for in these, putting off to sea, he looked upon
himself as quite secure, and held tlie whole power of the
English nation at defiance. Tlie chief place of his resort
at these times, where his boats were generally laid up, was
about six miles from Whitby, to which he communicated
his name, and which is still called Robin Hoods bay. There
he fi-equently went a fishing in the summer season, even
when no enemy appeared to annoy him, and not far firom
that place he had buts or marks set up, where he used to
exercise his men in shooting with the long-bow."*
• History of Whitby, York, 1779, p. 146. " It was ahvays believed,"
adds tlie worthy pedagogue, " that these butts had been erected by him
for that very purpose, till the year 1771, when this popular notion was
discovered to be a mistake ; they being no more than the barrows or
tumuli thrown up by our pagan predecessors on interring their leaders
or the other persons of distinction amongst them. However, notwith-
standing this discovery, there is no doubt but Robin Hood made use of
those houcs or butts when he was disposed to exercise his men, and
wanted to train them up in hitting a mark." Be that as it may, there
are a few hillocks of a similar nature not far from Guisbrougb, which
CXXVllI NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Near Gloucester is " a famous hill," called " Robin Hoods
hill ;" concerning which there is a very foolish modem song.
Another hill of the same name exists in the neighbourhood
of Castleton, Derbyshire.
" Over a spring call'd Robin Hoods well, (3 or 4 miles
[on] this side [i. e. north] of Doncaster, and but a quarter
of a mile only from 2 towns call'd Skelbrough and Bour-
wallis) is a very handsome stone arch, erected by the lord
Carlisle, where passengers from the coach frequently drink
of the fair water, and give tlieir charity to two people
who attend there." (Gents History of York. York, 1730,
p. 234.*)
Though there is no attendance at present, nor is the water
altogetlier so fair as it might and should be, the case was
othei-wise in the days of honest Barnaby.
" Veni Doncaster, &c.
Ncscit sitis artem modi,
Puteum Robert! Hoodi
Veai, & liqnente vena
likewise bear the name of Robin Hoods buts ; and others, it is ima-
gined, may be met with in other parts.
* Epigram on Robin Hoods well, " a fine spring on the road, orna-
mented by sir John Vanbrugh ;" By Roger Gale, esq. (Bib. Topo.
Britan. No. II. part III. p. 427.)
" Nympha fui quondam latronibns hospita sylvae
Heu nimium sociis nota, Robine, tuis.
Me pudet innocuos latices fudis«e scelestis,
Jamqiie viatori pocula tuta fero.
En pietatis honos ! Comes hanc mihi Carliolensis
jEdem sacravit qua bibis, hospes, aquas."
The same author (Gent), in his " long and pathetick prologue," set-
ting forth " the contingencies, vicissitudes or changes of this transitory
life," " spoken, for the most part, on Wednesday and Friday the 18th
and 20th of February, 1761, at the deep tragedy of beautiful, eloquent,
tender-hearted, but unfortunate Jane Shore,. . . . uttered and performed
at his benefit" . . . (being then sctatis 70, and far declined into the vale
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. CXXIX
Vincto* catino catena,
ToUens sitim, parcum odi,
Solvens obolura custodi.
" Thence to Doncaster, &c.
Thirst knowes neither meane nor measure,
Robin Hoods well was my treasure ;
In at common dish enchained,
I my furious thirst restrained :
And because I drunk the deeper,
I paid two farthings to the keeper."
He mentions it again :
" Nunc longinqnos locos odi.
Vale fons Roberti Hoodi.
" Now I hate all foreign places
Robin Hoods well, and his chaces."
A different well, sacred either to Robin Hood, or to St.
Ann, has been already mentioned.
of sorrow,^) has very artfully contrived to introduce our hero and his
famous well.
" The concave hall, 'mongst sources never view'd.
Nor heard the goddesses, in merry mood.
At their choice viands sing bold Robin Hood: |{
Whose tomb at Kirkleys nunnery display'd,
A false, hard-hearted, irreligious maid.
Who bled, and to cold death that earl betray'd.
But fame still lasts, while country folks display
His limpid fountain, and loud-surging bay."
• " Viventes venaj, spine, catinusque catense.
Sunt Robin Hoodi nota trophaja sui."
t "A well, thorne, dish, hung in an iron chaine,
For monuments of Robin Hood remaine."
§ He dyed in 1778, aged 87.
I " Omnes agnovere dcam; la:tique receptant
Alcaeura musae comitem, ponuntur Izlcchi
Crateres; flaventque scyphis Cerealia vina:
Accedunt vultus hilares ; festique lepores,
Et jocus, et risus : dulci testudine Naias
Pulchra modos variat ; furtisque insignis et arcu
Hodi latronis, fluvios bene nota per istos,
Ludicra gesta canit : resonant laquearia plausu."
CXXX NOTES AND ILLUSTUATIONS.
" Not far [off Bitham, in Lincolnshire] is Rob)/n Iluddes
eras, a limes of the shires." Lelands Itinerary, I. 25.
(HH) — " conferred as a singular distinction upon the
prime minister to the king of Madagascar."] The natives of
this island, who have dealings with our people, pride them-
selves, it seems, in English names, which are bestowed upon
them at the discretion or caprice of ilie sailors : and thus a
venerable minister of state, who should have been called sir
Robert Walpole or cardinal Fleury, acquired the name of
Robin Hood. Mr. Ives, by whom he is frequently mentioned,
relates the following anecdote :
" The reader will excuse my giving him another instance
. . . .which still more strikingly displays the extreme sensi-
bility of these islanders, in respect to their kings dignity.
Robin Hood (who seemed to act as prime minister, and ne-
gotiated most of the king's concerns with our agent-victualler)
was one day transacting business with another gentleman of
the squadron, and they happened to differ so much about the
value of a certain commodity, that high words arose, and at
length Robin Hood in the greatest agitation started from the
ground where he was sitting, and swore that he would imme-
diately acquaint the king of Baba with what had passed.
Our English gentleman, too much heated with this threat, and
the violent altercation which had preceded it, ungxiardedly
replied, " D — n the king of Baba." — The eyes of Robin
Hood flashed like lightning, and in the most violent wrath
he retorted, " D — n king George." At the same instant he
left the spot, hurrying away towards the Madagascai-ian cot-
tages. Our countryman was soon struck with the impropriety
of his behaviour, followed and overtook the disputant, and
having made all proper concessions, the affair was happily
terminated."*
* Voyage from Englaud to India, 1773, p. 8. In a subsequent page.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. CXXXl
(II) "After his death his company was dispersed."] Tliey
and their successors, disciples or followers, are supposed to
have been aftervvard distinguished, from the name of their
gallant leader, by the title of Roberdsmen. Lord Coke, who
is somewhat singular in accusing him of living " by robbery,
burning of houses, felony, waste and spoil, and principally by
and with vagabonds, idle wanderers, night-walkers, and draw-
latches," says that " albeit he lived in Yorkshire, yet men of
his quality took their denomination of him, and were called
Roberdsmen throughout all England. Against these men,"
continues he, " was the statute of Winchester made in 1 3 E.
1. [c. 14.] for preventing of robbery, murders, burning of
houses, &c. Also the statute of 5 E. 3. [c. 14.] which ' re-
cites' the statute of Winchester, and that there had been
divers manslaughters, felonies, and robberies done in times
past, by people that be called Roberdsmen, wasters and draw-
latches ; and remedy [is] provided by that act for the arrest-
ing of them. At the parliament holden 50 E. 3." he adds,
" it was petitioned to the king that ribauds and sturdy beg-
gars might be banished out of every town. The answer of
the king in parliament was, touching ribauds : The statute of
Winchester and the declaration of the same with other statutes
of Roberdsmen, and for such as make themselves gentlemen,
and men of armes, and archers, if they cannot so prove their-
selves, let them be driven to their occupation or service, or to
the place from whence they came." He likewise notices the
statute of 7 R. 2. [c. 5.] by which it is provided " that the
statutes of roberdsmen and draw-latches, be firmly holden
and kept." (3 Inst. 197.)
this great man is employed in a commerce of a more delicate, indeed, but,
according to European notions, less honorable nature, which he manages
with cousnmmate address.
CXXXll NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
These Roberdsmen are mentioned in Pierce the ploughmans
crede, written about 1400 :
" And right as Robartesmen raken abonte." *
Mr. Warton, who had once tliought that the friers Robertines
were liere meant, observes that " the expression of Robin
hoodes men, in bishop Latimers sermon, is not without an
allusion to the bad sense of Roberdsmen." (H. E. P. ii.
additions, sig. d. 4.) It does not, however, appear that the
latter word has been ever used in a good one ; nor is there,
after all, sufficient ground for concludnig tliat these people
were so named after Robin Hood.
(KK) — "the honour of little Johns death and burial is
contended for by rival nations."] I. By England. At the
village of Hathersage, about 6 miles from Castleton, in Derby-
shire, is Little Johns grave. A few years ago some curious
person caused it to be opened, when there were found several
bones of an uncommon size which he preserved; but, meeting
afterward with many unlucky accidents, he carefully replaced
them ; partly at tlie intercession of the sexton, who had taken
them up for him, and who had in like manner been visited
with misfortunes : upon restoring tlie bones all these troubles
ceased. Such is the tradition at Castleton. E. Hargrove, in
his "Anecdotes of archery," York, 1792, asserts, Uiat " the
grave is distinguished by a large stone placed at the head,
and another at tlie feet ; on each of which are yet some re-
mains of the letters I. L." (p. 26.)t II. By Scotland. "In
* They likewise seem alluded to in the Vision, fo. 1, b.
" And ryse wyth ribaudy as Rebertes knaves."
+ " On a loose paper, in Mr. Ashmole's hand writing, in the museum
at Oxford, is the following little anecdote :
" The famous Little John (Robin Hood's companion) lyes buried in
xoTF.s AND ir.LusTRATio^rs. cxxxiii
Murray laiid" according to that most veracious historian,
maister Hector Bois, "is the kirke of Pette,quhare the banis
of lytill Johne remanis in gret admiratioun of pepiU. He hes
bene fourtene ftit of hycht * witli square membris effering
thairto. Vi. zeris," continues he, " afore the cumyng of this
werk to lycht we saw his hanche-bane, als mekill as the hail!
bane of ane man : for we schot our arme in the mouth thairof
Be quhilk apperis how Strang and square pepill grew in our
regioun afore thay were effeminat with lust and intemperance
ofmouth."f III. By Ireland. " There standeth," as Stani-
hurst relates, " in Ostmantowne greene an hillocke, named
little John his shot. Tlie occasion," he says, " proceeded of
this.
" In the yeere one thousand one hundred foure score and
nine, tliere ranged three robbers and outlaws in England,
among which Robert Hood and Little John weere cheefeteins,
of all theeves doubtlesse the most courteous. Robert Hood
being beti-ayed at a nunrie in Scotland called Bricklies, the
remnant of the crue was scattered, and everie man forced to
shift for himselfe. Whereupon little John was faine to flee
Fethersedge chmch-yard, in the peak of Dcrbyfliirc, one stone at his
head, another at his feet, and part of his bow hangs up in the chancell.
Anno 1652." H. E[Ilis]. European magazine, October, 1794. p. 295.
* This seems the established size of an ancient hero. Tlie grave of
Oawin, king Artliurs nephew, discovered in the time of William llie
Conqueror, was,according to AIalmcsbur\ ," (jKatuordecim pedes lonyum ."
(De gestis regnm, I. 3.) Bois, from the above circumstance, conceives
<iur " Litil Jhon " to have been so called "per ii'oniam." Sec his original
work, fo. ix.
+ Historic of Scotland, translatit be maister Johne Bcllcndcn, Edin.
ir>4\, fo. The luxury of his countrymen will appear a strange complaint,
in the mouth of a Scotishmnn of the ICth century, to such as believe,
with tlie late Dr. Johnson, tiiat they learned to plant kail from Crom-
wells soldiers, and that " when they had not kail they probably had
nothing." (Junrney to the Western Islands, p. 55.^
VOL. I. k
CXXXIV NOTES .WD I LLUS IIIATIONS.
tlie realme l)y sailing into Ireland, where he sojornied for a
few dales at Dublin. The citizens being doone to under-
stand the wandering outcast to be an excellent archer, re-
quested him hartilie to trie how far he could shoot at randon ;
who yeelding to their behest, stood on the bridge of Dublin,
and shot to that mole hill, leaving behind him a monument,
rather by his posteritie to be woondered, than possiblie by
anie man living to be counterscored. But as the repaire of
so notorious a champion to anie countrie would soone be
published, so his abode could not be long concealed : and
therefore to eschew the danger of [the] lawes, he fled into
Scotland, where he died at a towne or village called Mo-
ravie."'*' Tlius Stanihurst, who is quoted by Dr. llanmer in
his Chronicle of Ireland, p. 179. but i\Ir. Walker, after ob-
serving that " poor Little John's great practical skill in archery
could not save liini from an ignominious fate," says, " it ap-
peared, from some records in the Soutl.well family, that he
was publicly executed for robbery on Arbor-hill, Dublin. "f
(KK) — "some of his descendants, of the name of Nailor,
&c."] See the preface to the History of George a Green.
As surnames were by no means in general use at tlie close of
the twelfth century. Little John may have obtained that of
Nailor from his original profession.
(" Ye boasted woithies of ihc knuckle,
To Maggs and to the Nailor truckle.")
But however this, or the fact itself may be, a bow, said to
• Description of Ireland, in Holinshcd.- chronicle, 1587.
t Historical essay, &c. p. 129. This .lilegation demands what tlie
lawyers call a profcrt in curiam. It is, however, certain th.it tlicre have
been persons who usurped the name of Little John. In the year 1502,
" about mydsomer, was taken a felow whyche had renued many of Kobyn
Hodes pagentes, which named hymselfe Grenelef." (Fabyans chroniile,
15.59.) Therefore, beware of couiuerfeits!
NOTES A\» ILLUSTRATIOXS. CXXXV
have belonged to Little John, with the name of Naylor upon
it, is now, as the editor is informed, in the possession of a
gentleman in the west riding of Yorkshire.
The quotation about whetstones is from the Sloan MS.
Those, indeed, who recollect the equivocal meaning of tlie
word may think that this production has not been altogether
confined to the grave of Little John.
F.Mi OF THF. LIVE, F.TC.
v,.;«-^'ti,--.-«%'j»«> t.^.-it. *'■'* 'Li
Or.i.J* •!«(.....- ;f ■•-,- I ;te ...It*'*
ROBIN HOOD.
PART I.
I.
A LYTELL GESTE Of ROBYN HODE.
This ancient legend is printed from the copy of an edition, in 4to.
and black letter, by Wynken de Worde, preserved in the public
library at Cambridge ; compared with, and, in some places,
corrected by, another impression (apparently from the former),
likewise in 4to, and black letter, by ^^'illiam Copland ; a copy
of which is among the late Rlr. Garricks old plays, now in the
British Museum, The full title of the first edition is as follows :
VOL. I. B
I A LYTELL GESTE
" Here beginneth a mery geste of Robyn Hode and his raeyne,
and of the proude sheryfe of Notyngham ;" and the printers
colophon runs thus: " Explycit. Kynge Edwarde and Robyn
hode and Lytell Johan Enprented at London in Flete strete at
the sygne of the sone By Wynken de Worde." To Coplands
edition is added " a newe playe for to be played in INIaye games
very plesaunte and full of pastynie ;" which will be found at
large in another place. No other copy of either edition is known
to be extant ; but, by the favour of the reverend Dr. Farmer,
the editor had in his hands and gave to Mr. Douce a few leaves
of an old 4to. black letter impression, by the above Wynken de
Worde, probably in 1489 ; and totally unknown to Ames and
Herbert. Another edition was printed at Edinburgh by Androw
Myllar and Walter Chepman in 1508, a fragment whereof is in
the Advocates library there. This is, probably, the edition noticed
among the tales enumerated in Wedderburns Complainte of
Scotland, printed at St. Andrews in 1549, under the title of
" Robene Hude and litil Jhone." Among the doctors numerous
literary curiosities was likewise another edition, " printed," after
Coplands, " for Edward White," (4to. black letter, no date,
but entered in the Stationers books 13 ^lay, 1594) which hath
been collated, and every variation worthy of notice either adopted
or remarked in the margin. The only desertion from all the copies
('except in necessary corrections) is the division of stanzas, the
indenting of the lines, the addition of points, the disuse of abbre-
viations, and the occasional introduction or rejection of a capital
letter ; liberties, if they may be so called, which have been taken
with most of the other poems in this collection.
Lithe and lysten, gentylmen,
That be of frebore blode ;
I shall you tell of a good yeman,
His name was Robyn Hode.
or ROBYN IIODE. 3
Robyn was a proiide outlawe,
Whyles he walked on grounde,
So curteyse an outlawe as he was one
Was never none yfounde. „---''^
Robyn stode in Bernysdale,
And lened hym to a tree, lo
And by hym stode Lytell Johan,
A good yeman was he ;
And also dyde good Scathelock,
And Much the millers sone ;
There was no ynche of his body,
But it was worthe a grome.
Than bespake hym Lytell Johan
All unto Robyn Hode,
Mayster, yf ye wolde dyne betyme,
It wolde do you moch good. co
Then bespake good Robyn,
To dyne I have no lust,
Tyll I have some bolde baron,
Or some unketh gest,
[Or els some byshop or abbot]
That may paye for the best ;
Or some knyght or some squyere
That dwelleth here by west.
T. 25. The irregularity or defect of the versification, in this
and similar passages, is probably owing to the loss of a line.
A LYTELL GESTE
A good maner than had Robyn,
In londe where that he were,
Every daye or he woulde dyne so
Thre messes wolde he here :
The one in the worshyp of the fader,
The other of the holy goost,
The thyrde was of our dere lady,
That he loved of all other moste.
Robyn loved our dere lady,
For doute of dedely synne ;
Wolde he never do company harme
That ony woman was ynne.
Mayster, than sayd Lytell Johan, 40
And we our horde shall sprede,
Tell us whether we shall gone,
And what lyfe we shall lede ;
Where we shall take, where we shall leve,
Where we shall abide behynde.
Where we shall robbe, where we shall reve.
Where we shall bete and bynde.
Ther of no fors, sayd Robyn,
We shall do well ynough ;
fBut loke ye do no housbonde harme 50
That tylleth with his plough ;
£
OF ROBYN IIODE. O
No more ye shall no good yeman,
That walketh by grene wode shawe,
Ne no knyght, ne no squy^r.
That wolde be a good felawe.
These bysshoppes, and thyse archebysshoppes,
Ye shall them bete and bynde ;
The hye sheryfe of Notynghame,
Hym holde in your mynde.^V
This worde shall be holde, sayd Lytyll Johan, 60
And this lesson shall we lere ;
It is ferre dayes, god sende us a gest,
That we were at our dynere.
Take thy good bowe in thy hande, said Robyn,
Let Moche wende with the,
And so shall Wyllyam Scathelocke,
And no man abyde with me :
And walke up to the Sayles,
And so to Watlynge-strete,*
And wayte after some unketh gest, 70
Up-chaunce ye mowe them mete.
* This seems to have been, and, in many parts, is still the
name generally used by the vulgar for Erming-street. The course
of the real Watling-street was from Dover to Chester.
The Sayles appears to be some place in the neighbourhood of
Barnsdale, but no mention of it has elsewhere occured ; though,
it is believed, there is a field so called not far from Doncaster.
A LYTELL GESTE
Be he erle or ony baron,
Abbot or ony knyght,
Brynge hym to lodge to me,
Hys dyner shall be dyght.
They wente unto the Sayles,
These yemen all thre,
They loked est, they loked west,
They myght no man see.
But as they loked in Barnysdale, so
By a derne strete,
Then came there a knyght rydynge,
Full sone they gan hym mete.
All dreri then was his semblaunte,
And lytell was hys pryde,
Hys one fote in the sterope stode.
That other waved besyde.
Hys hode hangynge over hys eyen two,
He rode in symple aray ;
A soryer man than he was one 90
Rode never in somers-day.
Lytell Johan was curteyse,
And set hym on his kne :
Welcome be ye, gentyll knyght,
Welcome are you to me,
V. 84. all his. PCC.
OF ROBYN HODE. -7
Welcome be thou to grene wood,
Hende knyg-ht and fre ;
My mayster hath abyden you fastynge,
Syr, all these oures thre.
Who is your mayster? sayd the knyght. loo
Johan sayde, Robyn Hode.
He is a good yeman, sayd the knyght,
Of hym I have herde moch good.
I graunte, he sayd, with you to wende,
My brethren all in-fere ;
My purpose was to have deyned to day
At Blythe or Dankastere.
Forthe than went this gentyll knyght,
With a carefuU chere.
The teres out of his eyen ran, no
And fell downe by his lere.
They brought hym unto the lodge dore.
When Robyn gan hym se.
Full curteysly dyde of his hode,
And set hym on his kne.
Welcome, syr knyght, then said Robyn,
Welcome thou arte to me,
I haue abyde you fastynge, syr.
All these houres thre.
V. 105. So R. [Rastall.] all thre. W. C. [de Worde and
Copland.] V. 108. this. R. that. W. C. V. Ill ere. R.
A LYTELL GESTE
Then answered the gentyll knyght, i.o
With wordes fayre and fre,
God the save, good Robyn,
And all thy fayre meyne.
They washed togyder and wyped bothe,
And set tyll theyr dynere ;
Brede and wyne they had ynough.
And nombles of the dere ;
Swannes and fesauntes they had full good,
And foules of the revere ;
There fay led never so lytell a byrde, i.w
That ever was bred on brere.
Do gladly, syr knyght, sayd Robyn.
Gramercy, syr, sayd he,
Suche a dyner had I not
Of all these wekes thre :
If I come agayne, Robyn,
Here by this countre.
As good a dyner I shall the make,
As thou hast made to me.
Gramercy, knyght, sayd Robyn, uo
My dyner whan I have,
I was never so gredy, by dere worthy god,
My dyner for to crave.
OF ROBYN HODE. 9
But pay or ye wende, sayd Robyn,
Me thynketh it is good ryght ;
It was never the maner, by dere worthy god,
A yeman to pay for a knyght.
I have nought in my cofers, sayd the knyght,
That I may profer for shame.
Lytell Johan, go loke, sayd Robyn, iso
Ne let not for no blame.
Tell me trouth, sayd Robyn,
So god have parte of the,
I have no more but ten shillings, sayd the knyght,
So god have parte of me.
Yf thou have no more, sayd Robyn,
I wyll not one peny ;
And yf thou have nede of ony more,
More shall I len the.
Go now forth, Lytell Johan, 360
The trouthe tell thou me,
Yf there be no more but ten shillings,
Not one peny that I se.
Lytell Johan spred downe his mantell
Full fayre upon the grounde,
And there he founde in the knyghtes cofer
But even halfe a pounde.
V. 147. to pay. R, pay. W. C. V. 150. Robyn. R. Robyn
Hoode. VV. C.
10
A LYTELL GESTE
Lytyll Johan let it lye full styll,
And went to his mayster full lowe.
What tydynge Johan ? sayd Robyn. 170
" Syr, the knyght is trewe inough."
Fyll of the best wyne, sayd Robyn,
The knyght shall begynne ;
Moch wonder thynketh me
Thy clothynge is so thynne.
Tell me one worde, sayd Robyn,
And counsell shall it be ;
I trowe thou were made a knyght of forse,
Or elles of yemanry ;
Or elles thou hast ben a sory housband, iso
And leved in stroke and stryfe ;
An okerer, or elles a lechoure, sayd Robyn,
With wronge hast thou lede thy lyfe.
I am none of them, sayd the knyght,
By god that made me ;
An hondreth wynter here before,
Myne aunsetters knyghtes have be.
But ofte it hath befal, Robyn,
A man hath be dysgrate ;
But god that syteth in heven above ijo
May amend his state.
OF ROBYX IIODE. 11
Within two or tlire yere, Robyn, he sayd,
My neyghbores well it ' kende,'
Foure houdreth pounde of good money
Full wel than myght I spende.
Now have I no good, sayd the knyght,
But my chyldren and my w^fe ;
God hath shapen such an ende,
Tyll god ' may amende my lyfe.'
In what maner, sayd Robyn, coo
Hast thou lore thy ryches ?
For my grete foly, he sayd,
And for my kindenesse.
I had a sone, for soth, Robyn,
That sholde have ben my eyre,
When he was twenty wynter olde,
In felde wolde juste full feyre ;
He slewe a knyght of LancastshjTe,
And a squyre bolde ;
For to save hjm in his ryght 210
My goodes beth sette and solde ;
My londes beth set to wedde, Robyn,
Untyll a certayne daye,
To a ryche abbot here besyde,
Of Saynt Mary abbay.
V. 192. two yere. R. V. 193. knowe. OCC. V. 109. it
may amende. OCC. V. 208. lancasesshyre. R.
12 A LYTELL GESTE
What is the somme ? sayd Robyn,
Trouthe than tell thou me.
Syr, he sayd, foure hondred pounde,
The abbot tolde it to me.
Now, and thou lese thy londe, sayd Robyn, 220
What shall fall of the ?
Hastely I wyll me buske, sayd the knyght,
Over the salte see.
And se where Cryst was quycke and deed,
On the mounte of Caluare.
Fare well, frende, and have good daye.
It may noo better be
Teeres fell out of his eyen two,
He wolde haue gone his waye —
Farewell, frendes, and have good day, 2.10
I ne have more to pay.
Where be thy friendes ? sayd Robyn.
" Syr, never one wyll me know ;
Whyle I was ryche inow at home
Grete host then wolde they blowe.
And now they renne awaye fro me.
As bestes on a rowe ;
They take no more heed of me
Then they me never sawe."
V. 227. not. W. C. V. 232. by. W. C, V. 233, So R.
knowe me. W, C. The fragment of Rastalls edition ends with
V. 238.
OF ROBYN HODE. 13
For ruthe then wepte Lytell Job an, 240
Scathelocke and Much ' in fere.'
Fyll of the best wyne, sayd Robyn,
For here is a symple chere.
Hast thou ony frendes, sayd Robyn,
Thy borowes that wyll be ?
I have none, then sayd the knyght,
But god that dyed on a tree.
Do waye thy japes, sayd Robyn,
Therof wyll I right none ;
Wenest thou I wyll have god to borowe ? cod
Peter, Poule or Johan ?
Nay, by hym that me made,
And shope both sonne and mone,
Fynde a better borowe, sayd Robyn,
Or mony getest thou none.
I have none other, sayd the knyght,
The sothe for to say.
But yf it be our dere lady,
She fayled me never or this day.
By dere worthy god, sayd Robyn, 2O0
To seche all Englond thorowe.
Yet founde I never to my pay,
A moch better borowe.
V. 241. also. PCC. V. 242. Wyme. PCC.
14
A LYTELL GESTE
3-0
Come now forthe, Lytell Johan,
And goo to my tresour^.
And brynge me foure hondred pounde.
And loke that it well tolde be.
Forthe then wente Lytell Johan,
And Seathelocke went before,
He tolde out foure houndred pounde.
By eyghtene score. *
Is this well tolde ? sayd lytell Much.
Johan sayd, What greveth the?
It is almes to helpe a gentyll knyght
That is fall in poverty.
Mayster, than sayd Lytell Johan,
His clothynge is full thynne,
Ye must gyve the knyght a lyveray,
To ' lappe' his body ther in.
For ye have scarlet and grene, mayster,
And many a ryche aray,
There is no marchaunt in mery Englonde
So ryche, I dare well saye.
Take hym thre yerdes of every coloure,
And loke that well mete it be.
Lytell Johan toke none other mesure
But his bowe tre,
* i. e. By so many score to the hundred ; or three hundred
for one. It is certainly a very hyperbolical expression : But lie
measures the cloth in the same way.
V. 279. helpe. W. wrappc. C.
280
OF ROEYN HODE. 15
And of every handfull that he met
He lept ouer fotes thre.
What devilkyns draper, sayd litell Much, 290
Thynkyst thou to be ?
Scathelocke stoode full sty 11 and lough,
And sayd, By god allmyght,
Johan may gyve hym the better mesure,
By god, it cost him but lyght.
Mayster, sayd Lytell Johan,
All unto Robyn Hode,
Ye must gyve that knight an hors,
To lede home al this good.
Take hym a gray courser, sayd Robyn, sno
And a sadell newe ;
He is our ladyes messengere,
God lene that he be true.
And a good palfraye, sayd lytell Moch,
To mayntayne hym in his ryght.
And a payre of botes, sayd Scathelocke,
For he is a gentyll knyght.
What shalt thou gyve hym, Lytel Johan? sayd
Syr, a payre of gylte spores clene, [Robyn.
To pray for all this company : sio
God brynge hym out of tene !
V. 303. leuc. W. lende. C.
16 A LYTELL GESTE
Whan shall my daye be, sayd the knyght,
Syr, and your wyll be ?
This daye twelve moneth, sayd Robyn,
Under this grene wode tre.
It were grete shame, sayd Robyn,
A knyght alone to ryde,
Without squyer, yeman or page.
To walke by hys syde.
I shall the lene Lytyll Johan my man,
For he shall be thy knave;
In a yemans steed he may the stonde,
Yf thou grete nede have.
THE SECONDE FYTI E.
NowE is the knyght went on this way.
This game he thought full good,
When he loked on Bernysdale,
He blyssed Robyn Hode ;
And whan he thought on Bernysdale,
On Scathelock, Much, and Johan,
He blyssed them for the best company
That ever he in come.
OF ROBYN IJODE. 17
Then spake that gentyll knyght,
To Lytel Johan gan he saye, in
To morowe I must to Yorke toune,
To Saynt Mary abbay ;
And to the abbot of that place
Foure liondred pounde I must pay :
And but I be there upon this nyght
My londe is lost for ay.
The abbot sayd to his covent,
There he stode on grounde,
This day twelfe moneth came there a knyght
And borowed foure hondred pounde. 20
[He borowed foure hondred pounde,]
Upon all his londe fre,
But he come this ylke day
Dysherytye shall he be.
It is full erely, sayd the pryoure,*
The day is not yet ferre gone,
I had lever to pay an hondred pounde,
And lay it downe a none.
The knyght is ferre be yonde the see.
In Englonde is his ryght, so
And suffreth honger and colde
And many a sory nyght :
The prior, in an abbey, was the officer immediately under the
lot ; in priories and conventual cathedrals he was the superior.
VOL. I. C
18 A LYTELL GESTE.
It were grete pyt^, sayd the pryoure,
So to have his londe,
And ye be so lyght of your conseyence
Ye do to him moch wronge.
Thou arte euer in my berde, sayd the abbot.
By god and saynt Rycharde.*
With that cam in a fat-heded monke,
The heygh selerer ; 40
He is dede or hanged, sayd the monke,
By god that bought me dere,
And we shall have to spende in this place
Foure hondred pounde by yere.
The abbot and the liy selerer,
Sterte forthe full bolde.
The high justyce of Englonde
The abbot there dyde holde.
* This was a " S. Richard king and confessour, sonne to
Lotharius king of Kent, who, for the love of Christ, taking upon
him a long peregrination, went to Tlome for devotion to that sea,
and in his way homward, died at Luca, about the year of Christ,
seaven hundred and fifty, where his body is kept untill this day
with great veneration, in the oratory and cliappell of S. Frigidian,
and adorned with an epitaph both in verse and prose." English
Martyrologe, 1608.
There were other saints of the same name, as Richard de la
Wich, bishop of Chichester, canonized in 1262 ; and Richard,
bishop of St. Andrews in Calabria, See Draytons I'oly-Olbion,
Song 24.
\
OF ROBYX HODE. 19
The liye justyce and many mo
Had take into their honde 50
Holy all the knyghtes det,
To put that knyght to wronge.
They denied the knyght wonder sore,
The abbot and hys meyne :
" But he come this ylke day
Dyshervte shall he be."
He wyll not come yet, sayd the justyce,
I dare well undertake.
But in sorowe tyme for them all
The knyght came to the gate. 60
Tlian bespake that gentyll knyght
Untyll hys meyne,
Now put on your symple wedes
That ve brou2;ht fro the see.
[They put on their symple wedes,]
And came to the gates anone,
The porter was redy hymselfe.
And welcomed them even,'chone.
Welcome, syr knyght, sayd the porter.
My lorde to mete is he, 7i)
And so is many a gentyll man.
For the love of the.
20 A LYTELL GESTE
The porter swore a full grete othe,
By god that made nie,
Here be the best coresed hers
That ever yet sawe I me.
Lede them into the stable, he sayd,
That eased myght they be.
They shall not come therm, sayd the knyght.
By god that dyed on a tre. so
Lordes were to mete isette
In that abbotes hall,
The knyght went forth and kneled downe,
And salved them grete and small.
Do gladly, syr abbot, sayd the knyght,
I am come to holde my day.
The fyrst word the abbot spake,
Hast thou brought my pay ?
Not one peny, sayd the knyght,
By god that maked me. 90
Thou art a shrewed dettour, sayd the abbot ;
Syr justyce, drynke to me.
What doost thou here, sayd the abbot.
But thou haddest brought thy pay ?
For god, than sayd the knyght.
To pray of a lenger daye.
OF UOBYN IIODE. "21
Thy daye is broke, sayd the justyce,
Londe getest thou none.
" Now, good syr justyce, be my frende,
And fende me of ray fone." loo
I am holde with the abbot, sayd the justyce,
Bothe with cloth and fee.
" Now, good syr sheryf, be my frende.''
Nay for god, sayd he.
" Now, good syr abbot, be my frende,
For thy curteys^,
And holde my londes in thy honde
Tyll I have made the gree ;
And I wyll be thy true servaunte,
And trewely serve the, no
Tyl ye have foure hondred pounde
Of money good and free."
The abbot sware a full grete othe.
By god that dyed on a tree.
Get the londe where thou may,
For thou getest none of me.
By dere worthy god, then sayd the knyght,
That all this worlde wrought,
But I have my londe agayne
Full dere it shall be bought ; 120
22 A LYTELL GESTE
God, that was of a mayden borne.
Lene us well to spede !
For it is good to assay a frende
Or that a man have nede.
The abbot lothely on hym gan loke
And vylaynesly hym gan ' call ;'
Out, he sayd, thou false knyght.
Spede the out of my hall !
Thou lyest, then sayd the gentyll knyght,
Abbot in thy hal ; li.)
False knyght was I never,
By god that made us all.
Up then stode that gentyll knyght,
To the abbot sayd he,
To sufFre a knyght to knele so longe,
Thou canst no eurteysye ;
In joustes and in tournemerit
Full ferre than have I be,
And put myselfe as ferre in pTees
As ony that ever I se. i4»
What wyll ye gyve more ? sayd the iustyce,
And the knyght shall make a relevsc ;
And elles dare I safly swere
Ye holde never your londe in pees.
v. 123. leue. W. Sende us. C. V. 126. loke. W. C.
OF KOBYN HODE. 23
An hondred pounde, sayd the abbot.
The justyce said, Gyve him two.
Nay, be god, sayd the knyght,
Yet gete ye it not soo :
Though ye wolde gyve a thousande more,
Yet were ' ye' never the nere ; i5o
Shall there never be myn eyre,
Abbot, justyse, ne frere.
He sterte hym to a borde anone,
Tyll a table rounde,
And there he shoke out of a bagge
Even foure hondred pounde.
Have here thy golde, syr abbot, sayd the knyght,
Which that thou lentest me ;
Haddest thou ben curteys at my comynge,
Rewarde sholdest thou have be. 160
The abbot sat styll, and etc no more,
For all his ryall chere,
He caste his hede on his sholder,
And fast began to stare.
Take me my golde agayne, sayd the abbot,
Syr justyce, that I toke the.
Not a peny, sayd the justyce,
By god, that dyed on a tree.
V. 148. grete. W. get. C. V. 150. thou. PCC.
24 A LVTELL GESTE
" Syr abbot, and ye men of lawe,
Now have I holde my daye, 170
Now shall I have my londe agayne,
For ought that you can saye."
The knyght stert out of the dore,
Awaye was all his care,
And on he put his good clothynge,
The other he lefte there.
He wente hym forthe full mery syngynge,
As men have tolde in tale,
His lady met hym at the gate,
At home in ' Wierysdale.' 180
Welcome, my lorde, sayd his lady ;
Syr, lost is all your good ?
Be mery, dame, sayd the knyght,
And praye for Robyn Hode,
That ever his soule be in blysse.
He holpc me out of my tene ;
Ne had not be his kyndenesse,
Beggers had we ben.
The abbot and I acordyd ben.
He is served of his pay, lyo
The good yeman lent it me,
As I came by the way.
V. 180. Uterysdale. O. CC. Wierysdale is the name of a forest
in Lancashire : though it appears, in a subsequent part of this
poem, that the knights castle was in Nottinghamshire.
OF ROEYX IIODE. 25
This knyglit than dwelled fayre at home,
The soth for to say,
Tyll he had got foure hondreth pounde,
All redy for too paye.
He purveyed hym an hondred bowes,
The strenges [were] welle dyght,
An hondred shefe of arowes good,
The hedes burnyshed full bryght, 200
And every arowe an elle longe,
AVith pecocke well ydyght,
Inocked all with whyte sylver,
It was a semly syght.
He purveyed hym an hondreth men,
Well harneysed in that stede.
And hymselfe in that same sete.
And clothed in whyte and rede.
He bare a launsgay in his honde.
And a man ledde his male, 210
And reden with a lyght songe.
Unto Bernysdale.
As he went at a brydge ther was a wrastelyng,
And there taryed was he,
And there was all the best yemen, \''
Of all the west countree.
V. 207. sute. C.
26 A LYTELL GESTE
A full fayre game there was upset,
A whyte bull up ipyg:ht ;
A grete courser with sadlc and brydil,
With golde burneyshed full bryght ; 220
A pay re of gloves, a rede golde rynge,
A pype of wyne, in good fay :
What man bereth him best, I wys,
The pryce shall here away.
There was a yeman in that place,
And best worthy was he,
And for he was ferre and frend bestad,
Islayne he sholde have be.
The knyght had reuth of this yeman,
In place where that he stode, C3'>
He said that yoman sholde have no harme,
For love of Robyn Hode.
The knyght presed into the place,
An hondred folowed hym ' fre,'
With bowes bent, and arowes sharpe,
For to shcnde that company.
They sholdred all, and made hym rome,
To wetc what he wolde say.
He toke the yeman by the honde.
And gave hym all the playe ; cio
V. 218. 1 up pyght. W. up ypyght. C. V. 234. feiu. W. in
fere. C.
1
OF ROBYN HODE. 27
He g'ave hym fyve marke for his wyne,
There it laye on the molde,
And bad it sholde be sette a broche,
Drynke who so wolde.
Thus longe taryed this gentyll knyght,
Tyll that playe was done,
So longe abode Robyn fastynge,
Thre homes after the none.
THE THYRDE FYTTE.
Lyth and lysten, gentyll men,
All that now be here,
Of Lytell Johan, that was the knyghtes man.
Good myrthe ye shall here.
It was upon a mery day,
That yonge men wolde go shete,
Lytell Johan fet his bowe anoue,
And sayd he wolde them mete.
Thre tymes Lytell Johan shot about,
And alway cleft the wande, jo
The proude sheryf of Notyngham
By the markes gan stande.
\'. 6. shote. W. V. 10. he sleste (sliced ?) W.
28 A LYTELL GESTE
The sheryf swore a full grete othe,
By hym that dyed on a tree,
This man is the best archere
That yet sawe I me.
Say me now, wyght yonge man,
What is now thy name ?
In what countre were thou born,
And where is thy wonnynge wan ? 20
" In Holdernesse I was bore,
I wys all of my dame,
Men call me Reynolde Grenelefe,
Whan I am at hame."
" Say me, Reynaud Grenelefe,
Wolte thou dwell with me ?
And every yere I wyll the gyve
Twenty marke to thy fee."
I have a mayster, sayd Lytell Johan,
A curteys knyght is he, so
May ye gete leve of hym,
The better may it bee.
The sheryfe gate Lytell Johan
Twelve monethes of the knyght,
Therfore he gave him ryght anone
A good hors and a wyght.
V. 19. thou wast. C. wast thou. \Vh.
OF ROBYN HODE. 29
Now is Lytel Johan the sheryfFes man,
He gyve us well to spede,
But alway thought Lytell Johan
To quyte hym well his niede. 40
Now so god me helpe, sayd Lytel Johan,
And be my trewe lewt^,
I shall be the worste servaunte to hym
That ever yet had he.
It befell upon a Wednesday,
The sheryfe on hontynge was gone.
And Lytel Johan lay in his bed,
And was foryete at home.
Therfore he was fastynge
Tyl it was past the none. so
Good syr stuard, I pray the,
Geve me to dyne, sayd Lytel Johan,
It is to long for Grenelefe,
Fastynge so long to be ;
Therfore I pray the, stuarde,
My dyner gyve thou me,
Shalt thou never ete ne drynke, sayd the stuarde,
Tyll my lord be come to tovvne.
I make myn avowe to god, sayd Lytell Johan,
I had lever to cracke thy crowne. 60
V. 41. Ge. VV. f. God.
30 A LYTELL GESTE
The butler was ful uncurteys,
There he stode on flore,
He sterte to the buttery,
And shet fast the dore.
Lytell Johan gave the buteler such a rap,
His backe yede nygh on two,
Tho he lyved an hundreth wynter,
The wors he sholde go.
He sporned the dore with his fote,
It went up wel and fyne, 70
And there he made a large lyveray
Both of ale and wyne.
Syth ye wyl not dyne, sayd Lytel Johan,
I shall gyve you to drynke,
And though ye lyve an hondred wynter,
On Lytell Johan ye shall thynk.
Lvtell Johan ete, and Lytell [Johan] dronkc,
The whyle that he wolde.
The sheryfe had in his kechyn a coke,
A stoute man and a bolde. no
I make myn avovve to god, sayd the coke,
Thou arte a shrewde hynde,
In an hou sholde to dwel.
For to ask thus to dyne.
OF ROBYN HODE.
31
And there he lent Lytel Johan,
Good strokes thre.
I make myn avowe, sayd Lytell Johan,
These strokes lyketh well me.
Thou arte a bolde man and an hardy,
And so thynketh me ; <?o
And or I passe fro this place,
Asayed better shalt thou be.
Lytell Johan drewe a good swerde,
The coke toke another in honde ;
They thought nothynge for to fle,
But styfly for to stonde.
There they fought sore togyder,
Two myle way and more,*
Myght neyther other harme done,
The mountenaunce of an houre. loo
I make myn avowe to god, sayd Lytell Johan,
And be my trewe lewte.
Thou art one of the best swerdemen,
That ever yet sawe I me.
Coowdest thou shote as well in a bowe,
To grene wood thou sholdest with me,
And two tymes in the yere thy clothynge
Ichaunged sholde be ;
'C-
"^ i. e. while n man might have walked two milej and upward.
32 A LYTELL GE9TE
And every yere of Robyn Hode
Twenty marke to thy fee. no
Put up thy swerde, sayd the coke,
And fclowes wyll we be.
Then he fette to Lytell Johan
The numbles of a doo,
Good brede and full good wyne,
They ete and dranke therto.
And whan they had dronken well,
Ther trouthes togyder they plyght,
That they wolde be with Robyn
That ylke same day at nyght. 120
The dyde them to the tresure-hous,
As fast as they niyght gone.
The lockes that were of good stele
They brake them everychone ;
They toke away the sylver vessel).
And all that they myght get.
Feces, masars, and spones,
Wolde they non forgete ;
Also they toke the good pence,
Thre hondred pounde and three ; iso
And dyde them strayt to Robyn Hode,
Under the grene wode tre.
Y. 121. hyed. C.
i
OF ROBYN HODE. 33
" God the save, my dere mayster.
And Cryst the save and se."
And than sayd Robyn to Lytell Johan,
Welcome myght thou be ;
And also be that fayre yeman
Thou bryng-est there with the.
What tydynges fro Notyngham ?
Lytell Johan, tell thou me. 340
" Well the greteth the proude sheryfe,
And sende the here by me
His coke and his sylver vessell,
And thre hondred pounde and thre."
I make myn avow to god, sayd Robyn,
And to the trenyte.
It was never by his good wyll.
This good is come to me.
Lytell Johan hym there bethought,
On a shrewed wyle, 150
Fyve myle in the forest he ran,
Hym happed at his wyll ;
Than he met the proud sheryf,
Huntynge with hounde and home,
Lytell Johan coud his curteysye,
And kneled hym beforne :
V. ISO.whyle. W.
VOL. I. D
34 A LYTELL GESTE
" God the save, my dere mayst^r,
And Cryst the save and see."
Raynolde Grenelefe, sayd the sheryfe,
Where hast thou nowe be ? iCo
" I have be in this forest,
A fayre syght can I se,
It was one of the fayrest syghtes
That ever yet sawe I me ;
Yonder I se a ryght fayre hart,
His coloure is of grene,
Seven score of dere upon an herde
Be with hym all bedene ;
His tynde are so sharp, mayster,
Of sexty and well mo, 170
That I durst not shote for drede
Lest they wolde me sloo."
I make myn avowe to god, sayd the sheryf,
That syght wolde I fayn se.
'' Buske you thyderwarde, my dere mayster,
Anone, and wende with me."
The sheryfe rode, and Lytell Johan
Of fote he was full smarte,
And whan they came afore Robyn :
" Lo, here is the mayster harte !" iso
V. 163. syght. W. sightes. C.
OF ROBYN HODE. 35
Styll stode the proude sheryf,
A sory man was he :
" Wo worthe the, Raynolde Grenelefe !
Thou hast now betrayed me."
I make myn avowe to god, sayd Lytell Johan,
Mayster, ye be to blame,
I was mysserved of my dynere.
When I was with you at hame.
Soone he was to super sette,
And served with sylver whyte ; 190
And whan the sheryf se his vessell,
For sorowe he myght not ete.
Make good chere, sayd Robyn Hode,
Sheryfe, for charyte,
And for the love of Lytell Johan,
Thy lyfe is graunted to the.
When they had supped well,
The day was all agone,
Robyn commaunded Lytell Johan
To drawe of his hosen and his shone, 200
His kyrtell and his cote a pye,
That was furred well fyne,
And take him a grene mant^ll,
To lappe his body therin.
V. 183. wo the worth. W.
36 A LYTELL GESTE
Robyn commaiinded his wyght yong men,
Under the grene wood tie,
They shall lay in that same sorte ;
That the sheryf myght them se.
All nyght laye that proud sheryf,
In his breche and in his sherte, 210
No wonder it was in grene wode,
Tho his sydes do smerte.
Make glad chere, sayd Robyn Hode,
Sheryfe, for charyte,
For this is our order I wys,
Under the grene wood tre.
This is harder order, sayd the sheryfe,
Than ony anker or frere ;
For al the golde in mery Englonde
I wolde not longe dwell here. S20
All these twelve monethes, sayd Robyn,
Thou shake dwell with me ;
I shall the teche, proud sheryfe.
An outlawe for to be.
Or I here another nyght lye, sayd the sheryfe, ]
Robyn, nowe I praye the,
Smyte of my hede rather to-morne.
And I forgyve it the.
OF ROBYN HODE. 37
Lete me go, then sayd the sheryf,
For saynt Charyte, sso
And I wyll be thy best frende
That ever yet had the.
Thou shake swere me an othe, sayd Robyn,
On my bryght bronde,
Thou shalt never awayte me scathe,
By water ne by londe ;
And if thou fynde ony of my men,
By nyght or by day,
Upon thyne othe thou shalt swere,
To helpe them that thou may, 240
Now have the sheryf iswore his othe,
And home he began to gone,
He was as full of grene wode
As ever was hepe of stone.
THE FOURTH FYTTE.
The sheryf dwelled in Notyngharae,
He was fayne that he was gone,
And Robyn and his mery men
Went to wode anone.
38 A LYTKLL GESTE
Go we to dyner, sayd Lytell Johan.
Robyn Hode sayd, Nay ;
For I drede our lady be wroth with me,
For she sent me not my pay.
Have no dout, mayster, sayd Lytell Johan,
Yet is not the sonne at rest, lo
For I dare saye, and saufly swere,
The knyght is trewe and trust.
Take thy bowe in thy hande, sayd Robyn,
Let Moch wende with the,
And so shall Wyllyam Scathelock,
And no man abyde with me.
And walke up into the Sayles,
And to Watlynge-strete,
And wayte after ' some' unketh gest,
Up-chaunce ye may them mete. eo
Whether he be messengere,
Or a man that myrthes can,
Or yf he be a pore man,
Of my good he shall have some.
Forth then stert Lytel Johan,
Half in tray and tene,
And gyrde hym with a full good swerde.
Under a mantel of grene.
V. 19. such. W.
OF ROEYN HODE. 39
They went up to the Sayles,
These yemen all thre ; so
They loked est, they loked west,
They niyght no man se.
But as ' they' loked in Beinysdale,
By the hye waye,
Than were they ware of two blacke monkes,
Eche on a good palferay.
Then bespake Lytell Johan,
To Much he gan say,
I dare lay my lyfe to wedde,
That these monkes have brought our pay. w
Make glad chere, sayd Lytell Johan,
And frese our bowes of ewe,
And loke your hertes be seker and sad,
Your strynges trusty and trewe.
The monke hath fifty two men.
And seven somers full stronge,
There rydeth no bysshop in this londe
So ryally, I understond.
Brethern, sayd Lytell Johan,
Here are no more but we thre ; so
But we brynge them to dyner,
Our mayster dare we not se.
V. 33. he. Old copies.
40 A LVTELL CitSTE
Bende your bowes, sayd Lytell Johan,
Make all yon prese to stonde,
The formost monke, his lyt'e and his dcth
Is closed in my honde.
Abyde, chorle monke, sayd Lytell Johan,
No ferther that thou gone ;
Yf thou doost, by dere worthy god,
Thy deth is in my honde. 60
And evyll thryfte on thy hede, sayd Lytell Johan,
Ryght under thy hattes bonde,
For thou hast made our mayster wroth,
He is fastynge so longe.
Who is your mayster? sayd the monke.
Lytell Johan sayd, Robyn Hode.
He is a stronge thefe, sayd the monke,
Of hym herd I never good.
Thou lyest, than sayd Lytell Johan,
And that shall rewe the ; 70
He is a yeman of the forest,
To dyne he hath bode the.
Much was redy with a bolte.
Redly and a none,
He set the monke to fore the brest,
To the grounde that he can gone.
V. 54. you. W. Make you yonder preste. C.
V. 75. set. ' shet' ?
OF ROBYN IIODE. 41
Of fyfty two wyght yonge men,
There abode not one,
Saf a lytell page, and a grome
To lede the somers with Johan. so
They brought the monke to the lodge dore,
Whether he were loth or lefe,
For to speke with Robyn Hode,
Maugre in theyr tethe.
Robyn dyde adowne his hode,
The monke whan that he se ;
The monke was not so curteyse,
His hode then let he be.
He is a chorle, mayster, by dere worthy god,
Than said Lytell Johan. 90
Thereof no force, sayd Robyn,
For curteysy can he none.
How many men, sayd Robyn,
Had this monke, Johan ?
" Fyfty and two whan that we met,
But many of them be gone."
Let biowe a horns, sayd Robin,
That felaushyp may us knowe ;
Seven score of wyght yemen.
Came pryckynge on a rowe, 100
V. 77. yemen. C. V. 80. Lytell Johan. 0. CC.
42 A LYTELL G ESTE
And everych of them a good mantell,
Of scarlet and of raye,
All they came to good Robyn,
To ^vyte what he wolde say.
They made the monke to wasshe and wype,
And syt at his denere,
Robyn Hode and Lytel Johan
They served ' him' bothe in fere.
Do gladly, monke, sayd Robyn.
Gramercy, syr, said he. no
*' Where is your abbay, whan ye are at home,
And who is your avowe?"
Saynt Mary abbay, sayd the monke,
Though I be syniple here.
In what ofFyce ? sayd Robyn.
" Syr, the hye selerer."
Ye be the more welcome, sayd Robyn,
So ever mote I the.
Fyll of the best wyne, sayd Robyn,
This monke shall drynke to me. ico
But I have grete mervayle, sayd Robyn,
Of all this longe day,
I drede our lady be wroth with me,
She sent me not my pay.
V. 108. thcni. O. CC.
OF ROBYN HODE. 43
Have no doute, mayster, sayd Lytell Johan,
Ye liave no nede I saye,
This monke it hath brought, I dare well sweve,
For he is of her abbay.
And she was a borowe, sayd Robyn,
Betwene a knyght and me, iso
Of a lytell money that I hym lent,
Under the grene wode tree ;
And yf thou hast that sylver ibroughte,
I praye the let me se,
And I shall helpe the eftsones,
Yf thou have nede of me.
The monke swore a full grete othe.
With a sory ehere,
Of the borowehode thou spekest to me,
Herde I never ere. 140
I make myn avowe to god, sayd Robyn,
Monke, thou arte to blame,
For god is holde a ryghtwys man,
And so is his dame.
Thou toldest with thyn owne tonge,
Thou may not say nay.
How thou arte her servaunt.
And servest her every day :
V. 136. to. W.
44 A LYTELL OESTE
And thou art made her messengere,
My money for to pay, i5o
Therfore I cun the more thanke,
Thou arte come at thy day.
What is in your cofers? sayd Robyn,
Trewe than tell thou me.
Syr, he sayd, twenty marke,
Al so mote I the.
Yf there be no more, sayd Robyn,
I wyll not one peny ;
Yf thou hast myster of ony more,
Syr, more I shall lende to the ; 160
And yf I fynde more, sayd Robyn,
I wys thou shake it forgone ;
For of thy spendynge sylver, monk,
Therof wyll I ryght none.
Go nowe forthe, Lytell Johan,
And the trouth tell thou me ;
If there be no more but twenty marke,
No peny that I se.
Lytell Johan spred his mantell downe,
As he had done before, 170
And he tolde out of the monkes male,
Eyght hundreth pounde and more.
V. 149. nade. W. not in C. V. 172. Eyght pounde. W.
OF ROBYN IIODE. 45
Lytell Johan let it lye full styll,
And went to his mayster in hast ;
Syr, he sayd, the monke is trewe ynowe,
Our lady hath doubled your cost.
I make myn avowe to god, sayd Robyn,
Monke, what tolde I the ?
Our lady is the trewest woman.
That ever yet founde I me. i80
By dere worthy god, sayd Robyn,
To seche all Englond thorowe.
Yet founde I never to my pay
A moche better borowe.
Fyll of the best wyne, do hym drynke, sayd Robyn ;
And grete well thy lady hende.
And yf she have nede of Robyn Hode,
A frende she shall hym fynde ;
And yf she nedeth ony more sylver,
Come thou agayne to me, 190
And, by this token she hath me sent,
She shall have such thre.
The monke was going to London ward,
There to holde grete mote,
The knyght that rode so hye on hors,
To brynge hym under fote.
V. 187. to. W.
46 A LVTELL GESTE
Whether be ye away? sayd Robyn.
" Syr, to maners in this londe,
Too rekeii with our reves,
That have done moch wronge." eoo
" Come now forth, Lytell Johan,
And harken to my tale,
A better yeman I knowe none,
To seke a monkes male."
How moch is in yonder other ' cofer V sayd Robyn ,
The soth must we see.
By our lady, than sayd the monke,
That were no curteysye,
To bydde a man to dyner.
And syth hym bete and bynde. 210
It is our olde maner, sayd Robyn,
To leve but lytell behynde.
The monke toke the hors with spore,
No lenger wolde he abyde.
Aske to drynke, than sayd Robyn,
Or that ye forther ryde.
Nay, for god, than sayd the monke,
Me reweth I cam so nere.
For better chepe I myght have dyned,
In Blythe or in Dankestere. 220
V. 205. corser. W, courser. C.
or ROBYN IIODE. 47
Grete well your abbot, saycl Robyn,
And your pryour, I you pray,
And byd hym send me such a monke,
To dyner every day.
Now lete we that monke be sty 11,
And speke we of that knyght,
Yet he came to holde his day
Whyle that it was lyght.
He dyde hym streyt to Bernysdale,
Under the grene wode tre, 2.10
And he founde there Robyn Hode,
And all his mery meyne.
The knyght lyght downe of his good palfray,
Robyn whan he gan see,
So curteysly he dyde adoune his hode.
And set hym on his knee.
" God the save, good Robyn Hode,
And al this company."
" Welcome be thou, gentyll knyght,
And ryght welcome to me." 240
Than bespake hym Robyn Hode,
To that knyght so fre,
What nede dryveth the to grene wode ?
I pray the, syr knyght, tell me.
48 A LYTELL GESTE
And welcome be thou, gentyl knyght,
Why hast thou be so longe ?
" For the abbot and the hye justyce
AVolde have had my londe."
Hast thou thy lond agayne ? sayd Robyn,
Treuth than tell thou me. 250
Ye, for god, sayd the knyght,
And that thanke I god and the.
But take not a grefe, I have be so longe ;
I came by a wrastelynge,
And there I dyd holpe a pore yeman,
With wronge was put behynde.
Nay, for god, sayd Robyn,
Syr knyght, that thanke I the ;
What man that helpeth a good yeman,
His frende than wyll I be. c6o
Have here foure hondred pounde, than sayd the
The whiche ye lent to me ; [knyght,
And here is also twenty marke
For your curteysy.
Nay, for god, than sayd Robyn,
Thou broke it well for ay,
For our lady, by her selerer,
Hath sent to me my pay ;
V. 249. gayne. W.
V. 253. But take not a grefe, sayd the knyght.
That I have be so longe. O. CC.
OF ROEYN HODE. 49
And yf I toke it twyse,
A shame it were to me : 270
But trewelv, g;entyll knyght,
VVelcom arte thou to me.
Whan Robyu had tolde his tale,-
He leuo;h and had good chere.
By my trouthe, then sayd the knyght,
Your money is redy here.
Broke it well, sayd Robyn,
Thou gentyll knyght so fre ;
And welcome be thou, gentill knyght,
Under my trystell tree. 280
But what shall these bowes do? sayd Robyn,
And these arowes ifedered fre ?
By god, than sayd the knyght,
A pore present to the.
" Come now forth, Lytell Johan,
And go to my treasure,
And brynge me there foure hondred pound e,
The mouke over-tolde it me.
Have here foure hondred pounde,
Thou gentyll knyght and trewe, 290
And bye hors and harnes good.
And gylte thy spores all newe :
V. 269. 1 twyse. W. Y. 280. thi trusty. C.
VOL. I. E
50 A LYTELL GESTE
And yf thou fayle ony spendynge,
Com to Robyn Hode,
And by my trouth thou shalt none fayle
The whyles I have any good.
And broke well thy four hundred pound,
Whiche I lent to the,
And make thy selfe no more so bare,
By the counsell of me." Soo
Thus than holpe hym good Robyn,
The knyght all of his care.
God, that sytteth in heven hye,
Graunte us well to fare.
THE FYFTH FYTTE.
Now hath the knyght his leve itake,
And wente hym on his way ;
Robyn Hode and his mery men
Dwelled styll full many a day.
Lyth and lysten, gentil men,
And herken what I shall say,
How the proud sheryfe of Notyngham
Dyde crye a full fay re play ;
V. 302. this care. W. V. 303. syt. W.
OF ROBYN HODE. 51
That all the best archers of the north
Sholde come upon a day, lo
And ' he' that shoteth * alder' best
The game shall here away.
" He that shoteth ' alder' best
Furthest fayre and lowe,
At a payre of fynly buttes,
Under the grene wode shawe,
A ryght good arowe he shall have,
The shaft of sylver Avhji;e,
The heade and the feders of ryche rede golde,
In Englond is none lyke." 20
This then herde good Robyn,
Under his trystell tre :
" Make you redy, ye wyght yonge men,
That shotynge wyll I se.
Buske you, my mery yonge men,
Ye shall go with me ;
And I wyll wete the shryves fayth,
Trewe and yf he be."
Whan they had theyr bowes ibent,
Theyr takles fedred fre, 30
Seven score of wyght yonge men
Stode by Robyns kne.
V. 11. And that shoteth al ther best. W.
And they that shote al of the best. C.
V. 13. al theyre. W. al of the. C.
52 A LYTELL GESTE
Whan they cam to Notyngham,
The buttes were fayre and longe,
Many was the bolde archere
That shoted with bowes stronge.
" There shall but syx shote with me,
The other shal kepe my hede,
And stande with good bowes bent
That I be not desceyved." 40
The fourth outlawe his bowe gan bende,
And that was Robyn Hode,
And that behelde the proude sheryfe,
All bv the but he stode.
Thryes Robyn shot about,
And alway he slist the wand,
And so dyde good Gylberte,
With the whyte hande.
Lytell Johan and good Scatheloke
Were archers good and fre ; 50
Lytell Much and good Reynolde,
The worste wolde they not be.
Whan they had shot aboute,
These archours fayre and good,
Evermore was the best,
Forsoth, Robyn Hode.
V. 46. thev slist. W. he clefle. C.
OF ROBYN HODE. 53
Hym was delyvered the goode arow,
For best worthy was he ;
He toke the yeft so curteysly,
To grene wode wolde he. 60
They cryed out on Robyn Hode,
And great homes gan they blowe.
Wo worth the, treason ! sayd Robyn,
Full evyl thou art to knowe.
And wo be thou, thou proud sheryf,
Thus gladdynge thy gest,
Other wyse thou behote me
In yonder wylde forest ;
But had I the in grene wode,
Under my trystell tre, 70
Thou sholdest leve me a better wedde
Than thy tre we lewte.
Full many a bowe there was bent,
And arowes let they glyde,
Many a kyrtell there was rent,
And hurt many a syde.
The outlawes shot was so stronge,
That no man myght them dryve,
And the proud sheryfes men
They fled away full blyve. so
V. 80. belyve. C.
54 A LYTELL GESTE
Robyn sawe the busshement to-broke,
In grene wode he wolde have be,
Many an arowe there was shot
Amonge that company.
Lytell Johan was hurte full sore.
With an arowe in his kne.
That he myght neyther go nor ryde ;
It w,as full grete pyte.
Mayster, then sayd Lytell Johan,
If ever thou lovest me, go
And for that ylke lordes love,
That dyed upon a tre,
And for the medes of my servyce,
That I have served the,
Lete never the proude sheryf
Alyve now fynde me ;
But take out thy browne swerde,
And smyte all of my hede,
And gyve me woundes dede and wyde,
No lyfe on me be lefte. joo
I wolde not that, sayd Robyn,
Johan, that thou were slawe,
For all the golde in raery Englond,
Though it lay now on a rawe
V. 100. That I after eate no bread. C.
OF UOBYN HODE.
55
God forbede, sayd lytell Much,
That dyed on a tre,
That thou sholdest, Lytell Johan,
Parte our company. *
Up he toke him on his backe.
And bare hym well a myle, no
Many a tyme he layd hym downe,
And shot another whyle.
Then was there a fayre cast^ll,
A lytell within the wode,
Double-dyched it was about,
And walled, by the rode ;
And there dwelled that gentyll knyght,
Syr Rychard at the Lee,
That Robyn had lent his good.
Under the grene wode tree. 120
In he toke good Robyn,
And all his company :
'< Welcome be thou, Robyn Hode,
Welcome arte thou [to] me ;
And moche [I] thanke the of thy comfort,
And of thy curteysye,
And of thy grete kyndenesse,
Under the grene wode tre ;
A LV n:i.L GKSTE
I love no man in all this worlde
So mocli as I do the ; 1.30
For all the proud sheryf of Notyngham,
Ryght here shalt thou be.
Shyt the gates, and drawe the bridge,
And let no man com in ;
And anne you well, and make you redy,
And to the walle ye wynne.
For one thyng, Robyn, I the behote,
I swere by saynt Quyntyn,
These twelve dayes thou wonest with me,
To suppe, ete, and dyne." ho
Bordes were layed, and clothes spred,
Reddely and anone ;
Robyn Hode and his mery men
To mete gan they gone.
THE SYXTE FYTTE.
Lythe and lysten, gentylmen,
And herken unto your songe ;
How the proude sheryfe of Notyngham,
And men of armes stronge,
OFROBYN nODE. 57
Full faste came to the hye sheryfe,
The countre up to rout,
And they beset the knyghts castell,
The walles all about.
The proude sheryf loude gan crye,
And sayd, Thou tray tour knyght, lo
Thou kepeste here the kynges enemye,
Agayne the lawes and ryght.
'* Syr, I wyll avowe that I have done,
The dedes that here be dyght,
Upon all the londes that I have,
As I am a trewe knyght.
Wende forthe, syrs, on your waye,
And doth no more to me,
Tyll ye wytte our kynges wyll
What he woU say to the." 20
The sheref thus had his answere,
With out ony leasynge,
Forthe he yode to London toune,
All for to tel our kynge.
There he tolde him of that knyght,
And eke of Robyn Hode,
And also of the bolde archeres.
That noble were and good.
V. 14. thou. W.
58
A LYTELL GESTE
" He wolde avowe that he had done,
To mayntayne the outlawes stronge, .w
He wolde be lorde, and set you at nought,
In all the north londe."
I woll be at Notyngham, sayd the kynge,
Within this fourtynyght,
And take I wyll Robyn Hode,
And so I ^vyll that knyght.
Go home, thou proud sheryf,
And do as I bydde the,
And ordayne good archeres inowe,
Of all the wyde countree. 4o
The sheryf had his leve itake.
And went hym on his way ;
And Robyn Hode to grene wode [went]
Upon a certayn day ;
And Lytell Johan was hole of the arowe,
That shote was in his kne.
And dyde hym strayte to Robyn Hode,
Under the grene wode tre.
Robyn Hode walked in the foreste,
Under the leves grene, so
The proud sheryfe of Notyngham,
Therfore he had grete tene.
V. 38. the bydde. OCC.
OF ROBTN HODE. 59
The sheryf there fayled of Robyn Hode,
He myght not have his pray,
Then he awayted that gentyll knyght,
Bothe by nyght and by daye.
Ever he awayted that gentyll knyght,
Syr Rychard at the Lee ;
As he went on haukynge by the ryver syde.
And let his haukes flee, 60
Toke he there this gentyll knyght,
With men of armes stronge,
And lad hym home to Notyngham warde,
Ibonde both fote and honde.
The sheryf swore a full grete othe,
By h)Tn that dyed on a tre,
He had lever than an hondrede pounde.
That Robyn Hode had he.
Then the lady, the knyghtes wyfe,
A fayre lady and fre, 70
She set her on a gode palfray,
To grene wode anon rode she.
When she came to the forest,
Under the grene wode tre,
Founde she there Robyn Hode,
And all his fayre meyn^.
V. 64. honde and fote. W. foote and hande. C.
V. 68. That he had Robyn Hode. W.
60 A LYTELL GESTB
** God the save, good Robyn Hode,
And all thy company ;
For our dere ladyes love,
A bone graunte thou me. m
Let thou never my wedded lorde
Shamfully slayne to be ;
He is fast ibounde to Notyngham warde,
For the love of the."
Anone then sayd good Robyn,
To that lady fre,
WTiat man hath your lorde itake ?
The proude shirife, than sayd she.
[The proude sheryfe hath hym itake]
Forsoth as I the say ; 90
He is not yet thre myles,
Passed on ' his' waye.
Up then sterte good Robyn,
As a man that had be wode :
" Buske you, my mery younge men.
For hym that dyed on a rode ;
V. 77. God the good Robyn. W. V. 79. lady. W. V. 81.
Late. V. 82. Shamly I slayne be. W. V. 88. For soth as
I the say. W. V. 92. your. W. You may them over take. C.
OF ROr.YN IIODE. 61
And he that this sorowe forsaketh,
By hym that dyed on a tre,
And by him that al thinges maketh,
No lenger shall dwell with me." loo
Sone there were good bowes ibent,
Mo than seven score,
Hedge ne dyche spared they none,
That was them before.
I make myn avowe to god, sayd Robyn,
The knyght wolde I fayn se,
And yf I may hym take,
Iquyt than shall he bee.
And whan they came to Notyngham,
They walked in the strete, no
And with the proud sheryf, I wys,
Sone gan they mete.
Abyde, thou proud sheryf, he sayd,
Abyde and speake with me.
Of some tydynges of our kynge,
I wolde fayne here of the.
This seven yere, by dere worthy god,
Ne yede I so fast on fote,
I make myn avowe to god, thou proud sheryfe,
' It' is not for thy good. 120
V. 99. 100. Shall he never in grene wode be Nor longer dwell
with me. W. V. 108. it. W. V. 120. At. W. That. C—
good] booto. WIi.
62 A LYTKLL GESTE
Robyn bent a good bowe.
An arrowe he drewe at his wyll,
He hyt so the proud sheryf,
Upon the grounde he lay full styll ;
And or he myght up aryse,
On his fete to stonde,
He smote of the sheryves hede,
With his bryght bronde.
" Lye thou there, thou proud sheryf,
Evyll mote thou thryve ; 130
There myght no man to the trust,
The whyles thou were alyve."
His men drewe out theyr bryght swerdes.
That were so sharpe and kene.
And layde on the sheryves men,
And dryved them downe bydene.
Robyn stert to that knyght.
And cut a two his bonde.
And toke hym in his hand a bowe.
And bade hym by hym stonde. uo
" Leve thy hors the behynde.
And lerne for to renne ;
Thou shalt with me to grene wode.
Through myre, mosse and fenne ;
V. 138. hoode. W. bande. C.
OF ROBYN IIODE. 63
Thou shalt with me to grene wode,
Without ony leasynge,
Tyll that I have gete us grace,
Of Edwarde our comly kynge."
THE SEVENTH FYTTE.
The kynge came to Notynghame,
With knyghtes in grete araye,
For to take that gentyll knyght.
And Robyn Hode, yf he may.
He asked men of that countre,
After Robyn Hode,
And after that gentyll knyght,
That was so bolde and stout.
Whan they had tolde hym the case,
Our kynge understonde ther tale, lo
And seased in his honde
The knyghtes londes all,
All the passe of Lancasshyre,
He went both ferre and nere,
Tyll he came to Plomton parke,
He faylyd many of his dere.
V. 4. and yf. W.
64 A LYTELL GESTE
There our kynge was wont to se
Herdes many one,
He coud unneth fynde one dere,
That bare ony good home. 20
The kynge was wonder wroth withall,
And swore by the trynyte,
" I wolde I had Robyn Hode,
With eyen I myght hym se ;
And he that wolde smyte of the knyghtes hede,
And brynge it to me,
He shall have the knyghtes londes,
Syr Rycharde at the Le ;
I gyve it hym with my charter,
And sele it with my honde, 30
To have and holde for ever-more,
In all mery Englonde."
Than bespake a fayre olde knyght,
That was treue in his fay,
A, my lege lorde the kynge.
One worde I shall you say ;
There is no man in this country
May have the knyghtes londes,
Whyle Robyn Hode may ryde or gone,
And here a bowe in his hondes ; 40
OF ROBYN IIODE. 65
That he ne shall lese his hede,
That is the best ball in his hode :
Give it no man, my lorde the kynge,
That ye wyll any good.
Half a yere dwelled our comly kynge,
In Notyngham, and well more,
Coude he not here of Robyn Hode,
In what countre that he were ;
But alway went good Robyn
By halke and eke by hyll, 50
And alway slewe the kynges dere,
And welt them at his wyll.
Than bespake a proude fostere,
That stode by our kyuges kne.
If ye wyll se good Robyn,
Ye must do after me ;
Take fyve of the best knyghtes
That be in your lede,
And walke downe by ' yon' abbay,
And gete you monkes wede. 60
And I wyll be your ledes man,
And lede you the way,
And or ye come to Notyngham,
Myn hede then dare I lay,
V. 59. your. OCC.
VOL. I. F
66 A LYTELL GESTE
That ye shall mete with good Robyn,
On lyve yf that he be,
Or ye come to Notyngham,
With eyen ye shall hym se.
Full hastly our kynge was dyght,
So were his knyghtes fyve, 7o
Everych of them in monkes wede,
And hasted them thyder blyth.
Our kynge was grete above his cole,
A brode hat on his crowne,
Ryght as he were abbot-lyke,
They rode up in-to the towne.
Styf botes our kynge had on,
Forsoth as I you say,
He rode syngynge to grene wode,
The covent was clothed in graye, so
His male hors, and his grete som^rs,
Folowed our kynge behynde,
Tyll they came to grene wode,
A myle under the lynde.
There they met with good Robyn,
Stondynge on the waye,
And so dyde many a bolde archere,
For soth as I you say.
OF ROBYN HODE. G7
Robyn toke the kynges hors,
Hastely in that stede, 90
And sayd, Syr abbot, by your leve,
A whyle ye must abyde ;
We be yemen of this foreste,
Under the grene wode tre,
We lyve by our kynges dere,
Other shy ft have not we ;
And ye have chyrches and rentes both,
And gold full grete plente ;
Gyve us some of your spendynge,
For saynt Charyte. * 100
Than bespake our cumly kynge,
Anone than sayd he,
I brought no more to grene wode,
But forty pounde with me ;
V. 96. Under the grene wode tre. W.
* This saint is also mentioned by Chaucer, in the Sompnours
tale ; by Spenser, in his 5th eclogue ; in the Downfall of Robert
earl of Huntington, 1601 ; and in one of Ophelias songs in
Hamlet. (See a note upon this last passage in the edition of
1793, vol. XV. p. 163.) Mr. Steevens's assertion that " Saint
Charity is a known saint among the Roman Catholics," may be
supported by infallible authority. " We read,'' says Dr. Douglas,
" in the MartjTology on the first of August — Romae passio
sanctarum virginum, Fidei, Spei, et Charitatis, quae sub Hadriano
principe martyris coronam adeptag sunt." Criterion, p. 68.
Pierre Nadal, commonly called Petrus de Natalibus, in his
Catalogus Sanctorum, has given the history of the saints, Faith,
Hope, and Charity, tlie daughters of St. Sopliia (or \Vi<dom).
Nothing can be too absurd for superstition.
68 A LYTELL GESTE
I have layne at Notyngham,
This fourtynys^ht with our kynge,
And spent 1 liave full moche good,
On many a grete lordynge ;
And I have but forty pounde,
No more than have I me, no
But yf I had an hondred pounde,
I would greve it to the.
&"
Robyn toke the forty pounde,
And departed it in two partye,
Halfendell he gave his mery men,
And bad them mery to be.
Full curteysly Robyn gan say,
Syr, have this for your spendyng,
We shall mete a nother day.
Gramercy, than sayd our kynge ; loo
But well the greteth Edwarde our kynge,
And sent to the his seals,
And byddeth the com to Notyngham,
Both to mete and mele.
He toke out the brode tarpe,
And sone he lete hym se ;
Robyn coud his courteysy,
And set hym on his kne :
V. 1 12. I vouche it halfe on the. W. V. 125. seale. ('.
OF ROEy>f IIODE. 69
" I love no man in all the worlde
So well as I do my kynge, vm
Welcome is my lordes seale ;
And, monke, for thy tydynge,
Syr abbot, for thy tydynges,
To day thou shalt dyne with me,
For the love of my kynge,
Under my trystell tre."
Forth he lad our comly kynge,
Full fay re by the honde,
Many a dere there was slayne,
And full fast dyghtande. i4o
Robyn toke a full grete home,
And loude he gan blowe,
Seven score of wyght yonge men.
Came redy on a rowe,
All they kneeled on theyr kne,
Full fayre before Robyn.
The kynge sayd hymselfe untyll,
And swore by saynt Austyn,
Here is a wonder semely syght,
Me thynketh, by goddes pyne; iso
His men are more at his byddynge,
Then my men be at myn.
A LYTELL GESTE
Full hastly was theyr dyner idyght,
And therto gan they gone,
They served our kynge with al theyr myght,
Both Robyn and Lytell Johan.
Anone before our kynge was set
The fatte venyson,
The good whyte brede, the good red wyne,
And therto the fyne ale browne. 160
Make good chere, sayd Robyn,
Abbot, for chary te ;
And for this ylke tydynge,
Blyssed mote thou be.
Now shake thou se what lyfe we lede,
Or thou hens wende,
Than thou may enfourme our kynge,
Whan ye togyder lende.
Up they sterte all in hast,
Theyr bowes were smartly bent, 170
Our kynge was never so sore agast,
He wende to have be shente.
Two yerdes there were up set.
There to gan they gauge ;
By fifty pase, our kynge sayd,
The merkes were to longe.
V. 160. and biowne. W.
OF ROBYN HODE. 71
On every syde a rose garlonde,
They shot under the lyne.
Who so fayleth of the rose garlonde, sayd Robyn,
His takyll he shall tyne, lao
And yelde it to his mayster,
Be it never so fyne,
For no man wyll I spare,
So drynke I ale or wyne.
And bere a buffet on his hede,
I wys ryght all bare.
And all that fell in Robyns lote,
He smote them v?onder sare.
Twyse Robyn shot aboute,
And ever he cleved the wande, 190
And so dyde good Gylberte,
With the whyte hand.
Lytell Johan and good Scathelocke,
For nothyng wolde they spare,
When they fayled of the garlonde,
Robyn smote them full sare.
At the last shot that Robyn shot,
For all his frendes fare,
Yet he fayled of the garlonde,
Thre fyngers and mare. 2otj
V. 186. A wys. W. For that shall be his fyne. C.
V. 192. good whyte. W. lilly white. C.
72 A LY'i'LLL GESTE
Than bcspake good Gylberte,
And thus ho gan say :
Mayster, he sayd, your takyll is lost,
Stand forth and take your pay.
If it be so, sayd Robyn,
That may no better be ;
Syr abbot, I delyver the myn arowe,
I pray the, syr, serve thou me.
It falleth not for myn order, sayd our kynge,
Robyn, by thy leve, 210
For to smyte no good yeman,
For doute I sholde hym greve.
Smyte on boldely, sayd Robyn,
I give the large leve.
Anone our kynge, with that worde,
He folde up his sieve,
And sych a buffet he gave Robyn,
To grounde he yede full nere.
I make myn avowe to god, sayd Robyn,
Thou arte a stalworthe frere ; 220
There is pith in thyn arme, sayd Robyn,
I trowe thou canst well shote.
Thus our kynge and Robyn Hode
Togeder than they met.
OF ROB\N HODE. 73
Robyn behelde our coraly kynge
Wystly in the face,
So dyde syr Richarde at the Le,
And kneled downe in that place ;
And so dyde all the wylde outlawes,
Whan they se them knele. 230
" My lorde the kynge of Englonde,
Now I knowe you well."
Mercy, then Robyn sayd to our kynge.
Under your trystyll tre.
Of thy goodnesse and thy grace,
For my men and me !
Yes, for god, sayd Robyn,
And also god me save ;
I aske mercy, my lorde the kynge,
And for my men I crave. 2+0
Yes, for god, than sayd our kynge
Thy peticion I graunt the.
With that thou leve the greue wode.
And all thy company ;
And come home, syr, to my courte.
And there dwell with me.
I make myn avowe to god, sayd Robyn,
And ryght so shall it be ;
V. 246. And therto sent I me. W.
74 A LYTELL GESTE
I wyll come to your courte.
Your servyse fur to se, 8.5o
And brynge with me of my men
Seven score and thre.
But me lyke well your servyse,
I come agayne full soone,
And shote at the donue dere,
As I am wonte to done.
THE EIGHTH FYTTE.
Haste thou ony grene cloth, sayd our kynge,
That thou wylte sell nowe to me ?
Ye, for god, sayd Robyn,
Thyrty yerdes and thre.
Robyn, sayd our kynge.
Now pray I the,
To sell me some of that cloth,
To me and my meyn^.
Yes, for god, then sayd Robyn,
Or elles I were a fole ; lo
Another day ye wyll me clothe,
I trowe, ayenst the Yole.
V. 9. oood. OCC.
OF ROBYN HODE. 75
The kynge kest of his cote then,
A grene garment he dyde on,
And every knyght had so, I wys,
They clothed them full soone.
Whan they were clothed in Lyncolne grene,
They kest away theyr graye.
Now we shall to Notyngham,
All thus our kynge gan say. 20
Theyr bowes bente and forth they went,
Shotynge all in-fere,
Towarde the towne of Notyngham,
Outlawes as they were.
Our kynge and Robyn rode togyder,
For soth as I you say,
And they shote plucke-bufFet,
As they went by the way ;
And many a buffet our kynge wan,
Of Robyn Hode that day ; so
And nothynge spared good Robyn
Our kynge in his pay.
So god me helpe, sayd our kynge.
Thy game is nought to lere,
I sholde not get a shote of the,
Though I shote all this yere.
V. 16. Another had full sonc. W.
76 A LYTELL GESTE
All the people of Notyngham
They stode and behelde,
They sawe nothynge but mantels of grene
That covered all the felde ; 40
Than every man to other gan say,
I drede our kynge be slone ;
Come Robvn Hode to the towne, I wys,
On lyve he leveth not one.
Full hastly they began to fle,
Both yemen and knaves,
And olde wyves that myght evyll goo,
They hypped on theyr staves.
The kynge loughe full fast,
And commanded theym agayne ; 50
When they se our comly kynge,
I wys they were full fayne.
They ete and dranke, and made them glad,
And sange with notes hye.
Than bc'spake our comly kynge
To syr Rycharde at the Lee :
He gave hym there his londe agayne,
A good man he bad hym be.
Robyn thanked our comly kynge.
And set hym on his kne. 60
V. 44. Lefte never one. AV. V. 49. lughe. W.
OF ROBYN IIODE. 77
Had Robyn dwelled in the kynges courte
But twelve monethes and thre,
That he had spent an hondred pounde,
And all his mennes fe.
In every place where Robyn came,
Ever more he layde downe,
Both for knyghtes and for squyres,
To gets hym grete renowne.
By than the yere was all agone,
He had no man but twayne 70
Lytell Johan and good Scathelocke,
Wyth hym all for to gone.
Robyn sawe yonge men shote,
Full fayre upon a day,
Alas ! than sayd good Robyn,
My welthe is went away,
Somtyme I was an archere good,
A styffe and eke a stronge,
I was commytted the best archere,
That was in mery Englonde. m
Alas ! then sayd good Robyn,
Alas and well a woo !
Yf I dwele lenger with the kynge,
Sorowe wyll me sloo.
V. 74. ft'ire. \V. V. 75. commended for. C.
A LYTELL GESTE
Forth than went Robyn Hode,
Tyll he came to our kynge :
" My lorde the kynge of Englonde,
Graunte me mvn askynsre.
»
I made a chapell in Bernysdale,
That seniely is to se, 9'^
It is of Mary Magdalene,
And thereto wolde I be ;
I myght never in this seven nyght,
No tyme to slepe ne wynke,
Nother all these seven dayes,
Nother ete ne drynke.
Me longeth sore to Bernysdale,
I may not be therfro,
Barefote and wolwarde I have hyght
Thyder for to go." ico
Yf it be so, than sayd our kynge,
It may no better be ;
Seven nyght I gyve the leve,
No lengre, to dwell fro me.
Gramercy, lorde, then sayd Robyn,
And set hym on his kne ;
He toke his leve full courteysly,
To grene wode then went he.
OF ROBYN HODE. 79
Whan he came to grene wode,
In a mery mornynge, no
There he herde the notes small
Of byrdes mery syngynge.
It is ferre gone, sayd Robyn,
That I was last here,
Me lyste a lytcll for to shote
At the donne dere.
Robyn slews a full grete harte,
His home than gan he blow.
That all the outlawes of that forest,
That home coud they knowe, 120
And gadred them togyder,
In a lytell throwe.
Seven score of wight yonge men.
Came redy on a rowe ;
And fayre dyde of theyr hodes.
And set them on theyr kne :
Welcome, they sayd, our mayster,
Under this grene wode tre.
Robyn dwelled in grene wode,
Twenty yere and two, iso
For all drede of Edwarde our kynge,
Agavne wolde he not 2:00.
'J
80 LYTELL GESTE OF UOBYX IIODE.
Yet he was begyled, I wys,
Through a wyoked woman,
The pryoresse of Kyrkesly,
That nye was of his kynne,
For the love of a knyght,
Syr Roger of Donkester,
That was her owne speciall,
Full evyll mote they ' fare.' i w
They toke togyder theyr counsell
Robyn Hode for to sle,
And how they niyght best do that dede,
His banis for to be.
Than bespake good Robyn,
In place where as he stode,
To morow I muste to Kyrkesley,
Craftely to be leten blode.
Syr Roger of Donkestere,
By the pryoresse he lay, i50
And there they betrayed good Robyn Hode,
Through theyr false playe.
Cryst have mercy on his soule,
That dyed on the rode !
For he was a. good outlaws.
And dyde pore men moch god.
M. 138. donkesley. W. V. 140. tlie. OCC
II.
ROBYN HODE [AND THE POTTER].
This curious, and hitherto unpublislied, and even unheard of
old piece is given from a manuscript, among bishop Mores col-
lections, in the public library of the university of Cambridge
(Ee. 4. 35). The writing, which is evidently that of a vulgar
and illiterate person, appears to be of the age of Henry the
seventh, that is about the year 1500 ; but the composition (which
he has irremediably corrupted) is probably of an earlyer period,
and much older, no doubt, than " The play of Robyn Hode,"
which seems allusive to the same story. At the end of the
original is " Expleycyt Robyn Hode.'"
VOL. I. G
82 ROBYX nODE
In schomer, when the leves spryug,
The bloschems on every bowe.
So merey doyt the berdys syng,
Yn wodys merey now.
Herkens, god yemen,
Comley, cortessey, and god,
On of the best that yever bar bou,
Hes name was Roben Hode.
Roben Hood was the yemans name,
That was boyt corteys and fre ; lo
For the loffe of owr ladey.
All wemen werschep ' he.'
Bot as the god yeman stod on a day,
Among hes mery maney,
He was war of a prowd potter,
Cam dryfyng owyr the ' ley.'
Yonder comet a prod potter, seyde Roben,
That long hayt hantyd this wey,
He was never so corteys a man
On peney of pawage to pay. 20
V. 12. ye. V. 16. lefe. V. 17. syde.
[and the pottkr]. 83
Y met hem bot at Wentbreg, seyde Lytyll John,
And therfor yeffell mot he the,
Seche thre strokes he me gafe,
Yet they clefFe by my seydys.
Y ley forty shiUings, seyde Lytyll John,
To pay het thes same day,
Ther ys nat a man among hus all
A wed schall make hem ley.
Her ys forty shillings, seyde Rob^n,
Mor, and thow dar say, so
That y schall make that prowde potter,
A wed to me schall he ley,
Ther thes money they leyde,
They toke het a yeman to kepe ;
Roben befor the potter he breyde,
' And up to hem can lepe.'
Handys apon hes horse he leyde,
And bad ' hem' stonde foil stell.
The potter schorteley to hem seyde,
Felow, what ys they well ? 40
All thes thre yer, and mor, potter, he seyde,
Thow hast hantyd thes wey,
Yet wer tow never so cortys a man
One peney of pauage to pay,
A',21.syde, V, 27. hys. V. 28. leffe. V. 36. A bad
hem stond stell. V. 38. the potter.
84 ROBYX IIODE
What ys they name, seyde the potter,
For pauage thow aske of me ?
" Roben Hod ys mey name,
A wed schall thow leffe me."
Wed well y non lefFe, seyde the potter,
Nor pavag well y non pay ; so
Awey they honde fro mey horse,
Y well the tene eyls, be mey fay.
The potter to hes cart he went,
He was not to seke,
A god to-hande staffe therowt he hent,
Befor Roben he ' lepe.'
Roben howt with a swerd bent,
A bokeler en hes honde [therto] ;
The potter to Roben he went,
And seyde, Felow, let mey horse go. Co
Togeder then went thes two yeraen,
Het was a god seyt to se ;
Therof low Robyn hes men,
Ther they stod onder a tre.
Leytell John to hes felowhes seyde,
Yend potter welle stefFeley stonde.
The potter, with a caward stroke,
Smot the bokeler owt of hes hondo ;
A'. 56. leppyfl- V. 65. fclo« Iio.
[and the potter]. 85
And ar Roben nieyt get hen agen,
Hes bokeler at hes fette, 70
The potter yn the neke hem toke,
To the gronde sone he yede.
That saw Roben hes men,
As thay stode ender a bow :
Let us helpe owr master, seyed Lytell John,
Yonder potter els well hem solo.
Thes yemen went with a breyde,
To ' ther' master they cam.
Leytell John to hes master seyde,
Ho haet the wager won ? so
Schall y hafF yowr forty shillings, seyde Lytel
Or ye, master, schall hafFe myne? [John,
YefFthey wer a hundred, seyde Rob^n,
Y feythe, they ben all theyne.
Het ys fol leytell cortesey, seyde the potter,
As y haffe harde weyse men saye,
YefF a por yeman com drywyng ower the wey,
To let hem of hes gorney.
Be mey trowet, thow seys soyt, seyde Roben,
Thow seys god yemenrey ; 90
And thow dreyffe forthe yevery day,
Thow schalt never be let for me.
V. 69. A. V. 76. seyde hels. V. 77. went yemen.
V. 78. thes, V. 82. lytl. Y. 90. yemerey.
86 ROBYN HODE
Y well prey the, god potter,
A felischepe well thow haffe ?
GefFe me they clothyng, and thow schalt hale
Y well go to Notynggam. [myne ;
Y grant therto, seyde the potter,
Thow schalt feynde me a felow gode ;
Bot thow can sell mey pottes well,
Com ayen as thow yode. loo
Nay, be mey trowt, seyde Roben,
And then y bescro mey hede,
Yeffe y bryng eney pottes ayen,
And eney weyfFe well hem chepe.
Than spake Leytell John,
And all hes felowhes heynd,
Master, be well war of the screffe of Notynggam,
For he ys leytell howr frende.
Thorow the helpe of howr ladey,
Felowhes, let me alone ; no
Heyt war howte, seyde Roben,
To Notynggam well y gon.
Robyn went to Notynggam,
Thes pottes for to sell ;
The potter abode with Robens men,
Ther he fered not eylle.*
V. 97. grat. V. 100. yede.
* This stanza is misplaced in the MS. after V. 96.
[and the potter]. 87
Tho Roben droffe on hes wey,
So merey ower the londe.
Heres mor and affter ys to saye,
The best ys beheynde. 120
[THE SECOND FIT.]
When Roben cam to Notynggam,
The soyt yef y scholde saye.
He set op hes horse anon,
And gaffe hem hotys and haye.
Yn the medys of the towne,
Ther he schowed hes war,
Pottys ! potty s ! he gan crey foil sone,
Haffe hansell for the mar.
Foil effen agenest the screffeys gate,
Schowed he hes chaffar ; i3o
Weyffes and wedowes abowt hem drow,
And chepyd fast of hes war.
Yet, Pottys, gret chepe ! creyed Robyn,
Y loffe yeffell thes to stonde.
And all that saw hem sell,
Seyde he had be no potter long.
V. 135. say.
88 HOBVN HUUE
The pottys that wer werthe pens feyffe,
He solde tham for pens thre :
Preveley seyde man and weyfle,
Ywnder potter schall never the. uo
Thos Roben solde foil fast,
Tell he had pottys hot feyffe ;
Op he hem toke of his car,
And sende hem to the screffeys weyffe.
Therof sche was foil fayne,
Gereamarsey, sir, than seyde sche^
When ye com to thes contre ayen,
Y schall bey of ' they' pottys, so mot y the.
Ye schall haffe of the best, seyde Roben,
And swar be the treneyte. i5o
Foil corteysley ' she' gan hem call,
Com deyne with the screfe and me.
Godamarsey, seyde Roben,
Yowr bedyng schall be doyn.
A mayden yn the pottys gan ber,
Roben and the screffe weyfFe folowed anon.
Whan Roben ynto the hall cam,
The screffe sone he met,
The potter cowed of corteysey,
And sone the screffe he gret. 160
V. 146. seyde sche s' than. V. 148. the. V. 151. he.
[and the potter]. 89
" Loketh what thes potter hayt geffe yow and me !
Feyffe pottys smalle and grete !"
He ys fol wellcom, seyd the screffe,
Let OS was, and ' go' to mete.
As they sat at her methe,
With a nobell cher,
Two of the screfFes men gan speke
Off a gret wager,
Was made the thother daye,
Off a schotyng was god and feyne, 170
Off forty shillings, the soyt to saye,
Who scholde thes wager wen.
Styll than sat thes prowde potter,
Thos than thowt he,
As y am a trow Cerstyn man,
Thes schotyng well y se.
Whan they had fared of the best.
With bred and ale and weyne.
To the ' bottys they' made them prest.
With bowes and boltys foil feyne. :8o
The screffes men schot foil fast,
As archares that weren godde,
Ther cam non ner ney the marke
Bey halfe a god archares bowe.
V. 161. Loseth. V. 164. to. VV. 169. 170. These two
lines are transposed in the MS. V. 179. pottys the. V. 180.
bolt yt.
90 ROBYN HODE
Stell then stod the prowde potter,
Thos than seyde he,
And y had a bow, be the rode,
On schot scholde yow se.
Thow schall hafFe a bow, seyde the screfFe,
The best that thow well cheys of thre ; 190
Thow semyst a stalward and a stronge,
Asay schall thow be.
The screffe comandyd a yeman that stod hem bey
AfFter bowhes to wende ;
The best bow that the yeman browthe
Roben set on a stryng.
" Now schall y wet and thow be god,
And polle het op to they ner."
So god me helpe, seyde the prowde potter,
Thys ys bot rygzt weke ger. 200
To a quequer Roben went,
A god bolt owthe he toke.
So ney on to the marke he went,
He fayled not a fothe.
All they schot abowthe agen.
The screffes men and he,
Off the marke he welde not fayle,
He cleffed the preke on thre.
V. 191.senyst.
[and the potter]. 91
The screfFes men thowt gret schame,
The potter the mastry wan ; vio
The screfFe lowe and made god game,
And seyde, Potter, thow art a man ;
Thow art worthey to ber a bowe,
Yn what plas that thow ' gang,'
Yn mey cart y hafFe a bowe,
Forsoyt, he seyde, and that a godde ;
Yn mey cart ys the bow
That ' I had of Robyn Hode.'
Knowest thow Robyn Hode ? seyde the screffe,
Potter, y prey the tell thou me. 220
" A hundred tome y hafFe schot with hem.
Under hes tortyll tre."
Y had lever nar a hundred ponde, seyde the
And swar be the trenite, [screfFe,
[Y had lever nar a hundred ponde, he seyde,]
That the fals owtelawe stod be me.
And ye well do afFtyr mey red, seyde the potter,
And boldeley go with me.
And to morow, or we het bred,
Roben Hode wel we se. 230
V. 214. goe. V. 218. that Robyng gaffe me.
92
ROBYN HODE
Y well queyt the, kod the screffe,
And swer be god of meythe.
Schetyng thay left, and hom they went,
Her scoper was redey deythe.
Upon the morow^ when het was day,
He boskyd hem forthe to reyde ;
The potter hes carte forthe gan ray,
And wolde not [be] lefFe beheynde.
He toke leffe of the screfFys wyffe.
And thankyd her of all thyng : C40
" Dam, for mey loffe, and ye well thys wer,
Y gefFe yow her a golde ryng."
Gramarsey, seyde the weyffe,
Sir, god eylde het the.
The screffes hart was never so leythe.
The feyr forest to se.
And when he cam ynto the foreyst.
Yonder the leffes grene,
Berdys ther sange on bowhes prest,
Het was gret goy to sene. c5o
Her het ys merey to be, seyde Roben,
For a man that had hawt to spende :
Be mey home ' we ' schall awet
Yeff Roben Hode be ' ner hande.'
V. 232. mey they. V. 251. se. V. 254. he.
[and the pottek]. 93
Roben set hes home to hes mowthe,
And blow a blast that was foil god,
That herde hes men that ther stode,
Fer downe yn the wodde.
I her mey master, seyde Leytyll John :
They ran as thay wer wode. 260
Whan thay to thar master cam,
Ley tell John wold not spar :
" Master, how hafFe yow far yn Notynggam ?
HafFe yow solde yowr war ?"
" Ye, be mey trowthe, Leytyll John,
Loke thow take no car ;
Y haffe browt the screfFe of Notynggam,
For all howr chafFar."
He ys foil wellcom, seyde Lytyll John,
Thes tydyng ys foil godde. ^"o
The screfFe had lever nar a hundred ponde
[He had never sene Roben Hode].
" Had I west that beforen,
At Notynggam when we wer,
Thow scholde not com yn feyr forest
Of all thes thowsande eyr."
V. 255. her. V. 259. For. V. 265. How haff?.
V. 266. I leyty. V. 274. He had west.
94 ROBTN HODE
That wot y well, seyde Roben,
Y thanke god that y be lier ;
Therfor schall ye leffe yowr horse with hos,
And a'l your hother ger. m-.
That fend I godys forbode, kod the screfFe,
So to lese mey godde.
" Hcther ye cam on horse foil hey,
And horn schall ye go on fote ;
And gret well they weyfFe at home,
The woman ys foil godde.
Y schall her sende a wheyt palfFrey,
Het hambellet as the weyade ;
Ner for the lofFe of yowr weyfFe,
Off mor sorow scholde yow seyng." coo
Thes parted Robyn Hode and the screfFe,
To Notynggam he toke the waye ;
Hes weyfFe feyr welcomed hem horn,
And to hem gan sche saye;
Seyr. how halFe yow fared yn grene foreyst ?
HafFe ye browt Roben hom ? [bon,
" Dam, the deyell spede hem, bothe bodey and
Y hafFe hade a foil grete skorne.
b'
V. 279. that ye be. V. 284. y. V. 288. The MS. repeats
this line after tlie following : Ilet ambellet be mey sey.
[and the potter]. 95
Of all the god that y haffe lade to grene wod,
He hayt take het fro me, 300
All bot this feyr palfFrey,
That he hayt sende to the."
With that sche toke op a lowde lawhyng,
And swhar be hem that deyed on tre :
" Now haffe yow payed for all the pottys
That Roben gaffe to me.
Now ye be com horn to Notynggam,
Ye schall haffe god ynowe."
Now speke we of Roben Hode,
And of the pottyr onder the grene bowhe. 310
" Potter, what was they pottys worthe
To Notynggam that y ledde with me ?"
They wer worth two nobellys, seyd he.
So mot y treyffe or the ;
So cowde y had for tham,
And y had ther be.
Thow schalt hafe ten ponde, seyde Roben,
Of money feyr and fre ;
And yever whan thow comest to grene wod,
Wellcom, potter, to me. 320
V. 311. bowhes. V. 317. be tlier.
96 ROEYN IIODE [aND THE POTTER].
Thes partyd Robyn, the screfFe, and the potter.
Ondernethe the grene wod tre.
God haffe niersey on Roben Hodys solle,
And safFe all god yemanrey !
III.
ROBIN HOOD AND THE BEGGAR.
This poem, a north-country (or, perhaps, Scotish) composition
of some antiquity, is given from a modern copy printed at New-
castle, where it was accidentally picked up : no other edition
having been ever seen or heard of. The corruptions of the press
being equally numerous and minute, some of the most trifling
have been corrected without notice. But it may be proper to
mention that each line of the printed copy is here thrown into
two : a step which, though absolutely necessarj' from the narrow-
ness of the page, is sufficiently justifyed by the frequent recurrence
of the double rime. The division of stanzas was conceived to be
a still further improvement. — The original title is, "A pretty
dialogue betwixt Robin Hood and a beggar."
A similar story (" Comment un moine se debarasse des
voleurs") may be found in Le moyen de parvenir, i. 304 (edit.
1739).
VOL. I. II
98
ROBIN HOOD
Lyth and listen, gentlemen,
That be of high born blood,
I'll tell you of a brave booting
That befell Robin Hood.
Robin Hood upon a day,
He went forth him alone.
And as he came from Barnsdale
Into fair evening,
He met a beggar on the way.
Who sturdily could gang ; lo
He had a pike-stafF in his hand
That was both stark and Strang ;
A clouted clock about him was.
That held him frae the cold,
The thinnest bit of it, I guess,
Was more than twenty fold.
His meal-poke hang about his neck.
Into a leathern whang.
Well fasten'd to a broad bucle.
That was both stark and ' Strang.' '.'o
He had three hats upon his head,
Together sticked fast.
He car'd neither for wind nor wet.
In lands where'er he past.
V. 24. wherV.
AND THE BEUGAK. 99
Good Robin cast him in the way,
To see what he might be,
If any beggar had money,
He thought some part had he.
Tarry, tarry, good Robin says.
Tarry, and speak with me. 30
He heard him as he heard him not,
And fast on his way can hy.
'Tis be not so, says [good] Robin,
Nay, thou must tarry still.
By my troth, said the bold beggar,
Of that I have no will.
It is far to my lodging house,
And it is growing late,
If they have supt e'er I come in
I will look wondrous blate, 40
Now, by my truth, says good Robin,
I see well by thy fare,
If thou shares well to thy supper,
Of mine thou dost not care,
Who wants my dinner all this day,
And wots not where to ly,
And would I to the tavern go,
I want monev to buy.
100 nOBIN- HOOD
Sir, you must lend me some mon^y
Till we meet again. so
The beggar answer'd cankardly,
I have no money to lend :
Thou art a young man as J,
And seems to be as sweer ;
If thou fast till thou get from me,
Thou shalt eat none this year.
Now, by my truth, says [good] Robin,
Since we are asembled so.
If thou hast but a small farthing,
I'll have it e'er thou go. 60
Come, lay down thy clouted cloak,
And do no longer stand,
And loose the strings of all thy pokes,
I'll ripe them with my hand.
And now to thee I make a vow,
If ' thou' make any din,
I shall see a broad arrow,
Can pierce a beggar's skin.
The beggar smil'd, and answer made,
Far better let me be ; 70
Think not that I will be afraid,
For thy nip crooked tree ;
AND THE BEGGAR. 101
Or that I fear thee any whit,
For thy curn nips of sticks,
I know no use for them so meet
As to be puding-pricks.
Here I defy thee to do me ill,
For all thy boisterous fair,
Thou's get nothing from me but ill,
Would'st thou seek evermair. so
Good Robin bent his noble bow,
He was an angery man.
And in it set a broad arrow ;
Lo ! e'er 'twas drawn a span.
The beggar, with his noble tree,
Reach'd him so round a rout.
That his bow and his broad arrow
In flinders flew about.
Good Robin bound him to his brand.
But that prov'd likewise vain, 90
The beggar lighted on his hand
With his pike-staff" again :
[I] wot he might not draw a sword
For forty days and mair.
Good Robin could not speak a word,
His heart was ne'er so sair.
102 no I! IX HOOD
He could not fight, he could not flee,
He wist not what to do ;
The beggar with his noble tree
Laid lusty slaps him to. loo
He paid good Robin back and side,
And baist him up and down.
And with his pyke-staff laid on loud,
Till he fell in a swoon.
Stand up, man, the beggar said,
'Tis shame to go to rest ;
Stay till thou get thy money told,
I think it were the best :
And syne go to the tavern house,
And buy both wine and ale ; no
Hereat thy friends will crack full crouse,
Thou hast been at the dale.
Good Robin answer'd ne'er a word,
But lay still as a stane ;
His cheeks were pale as any clay,
And closed were his een.
The beggar thought him dead but fail.
And boldly bound his way. —
I would ye had been at the dale.
And gotten part of the play. 120
V. 116. closd. We might read :
And clos'd were [baith] his een.
I
AND THE BEGGAR. 103
THE SECOND PART.
Now three of Robin's men, by chance,
Came walking by the way.
And found their master in a trance,
On ground where that he lay.
Up have they taken good Robin,
Making a piteous bear,
Yet saw they no man there at whom
They might the matter spear.
They looked him all round about,
But wound on him saw ' nane,' lo
Yet at his mouth came booking out
The blood of a good vain.
Cold water they have gotten syne,
And cast unto his face ;
Then he began to hitch his ear,
And speak within short space.
Tell us, dear master, said his men.
How with you stands the case.
Good Robin sig-h'd e'er he began
To tell of his disgrace.
m
104 ROBIN HOOD
" I have been watchman in this wood
Near hand this twenty year,
Yet I was never so hard bestead
As ye have found me here ;
A beggar with a clouted clock,
Of whom I fear'd no ill
Hath with his pyke-staff cla'd my back,
I fear 'twill never be well.
See, where he goes o'er yon hill,
With hat upon his head ; so
If e'er ye lov'd your master well.
Go now revenge this deed ;
And bring him back again to me,
If it lie in your might,
That I may see, before I die.
Him punish'd in my sight :
And if you may not bring him back.
Let him not go loose on ;
For to us all it were great shame
If he escape again." 4o
" One of us shall with you remain,
Because you're ill at ease,
The other two shall bring him back,
To use him as you please."
AND THE BEGGAR. 105
Now, by my truth, says good Robin,
I true there's enough said ;
And he get scouth to wield his tree,
I fear you'll both be paid.
" Be not fear'd, our master,
That we two can be dung 50
With any bluter base beggar.
That has nought but a rung.
His staff shall stand him in no stead.
That you shall shortly see,
But back again he shall be led,
And fast bound shall he be,
To see if ye will have him slain.
Or hanged on a tree."
" But cast you sliely in his way.
Before he be aware, 60
And on his pyke-staff first hands lay,
Ye'll speed the better far."
Now leave we Robin with his man,
Again to play the child,
And learn himself to stand and gang
By halds, for all his eild.
Now pass we to the bold beggar.
That raked o'er the hill.
Who never mended his pace more.
Then he had done no ill. 70
lOU
ROBIN HOOD
And they have taken another way.
Was nearer by miles three.
They stoutly ran with all their mipjht.
Spared neither dub ' nor' mire,
They started at neither how nor height,
No travel made them tire,
Till they before the beggar wan,
And cast them in his way ;
A little wood lay in a glen,
And there they both did stay ; »>
They stood up closely by a troe,
In each side of the gate,
Untill the beggar came them nigh,
That thought of no such late :
And as he was betwixt them past,
They leapt upon him baith;
The one his pyke-stafF gripped fast,
They feared for its skaith.
The other he held in his sight
A drawen durk to his breast, o"
And said, False ' carel,' quit thy staff,
Or I shall be thy priest.
\ . 71. The preceding lines of this stanza are wanting in the
original.
AND THE BEGGAR. 107
His pyke-staff they have taken him frae,
And stuck it in the green,
He was full loath to let it gae,
An better might it been.
The beggar was the feardest man
Of any that e'er might be,
To win away no way he can,
Nor help him with his tree. loo
Nor wist he wherefore he was ta'en,
Nor how many was there ;
He thought his life days had been gane,
He grew into dispair.
Grant me my life, the beggar said.
For him that dy'd on the tree,
And hold away that ugly knife,
Or else for fear I'll die.
I griev'd you never in all my life,
Neither by late or air, no
You have great sin if you would slay
A silly poor beggar.
Thou lies, false lown, they said again.
For all that may be sworn ;
Thou hast * near' slain the gentlest man
Of one that e'er was born ;
108 ROBIN HOOD
And back again thou shall be led,
And fast bound shalt thou be,
To see if he will have thee slain,
Or hanged on a tree. 120
The beggar then thought all was wrong,
They were set for his wrack,
He saw nothing appearing then
But ill upon warse back.
Were he out of their hands, he thought,
And had again his tree,
He should not be led back for nought.
With such as he did see.
Then he bethought him on a wile,
If it could take effect, 130
How he might the young men beguile,
And give them a begeck.
Thus to do them shame for ill
His beastly breast was bent,
He found the wind blew somethins: shrill.
To further his intent.
He said. Brave gentlemen, be good.
And let a poor man be ;
When ye have taken a beggar's blood,
It helps you not a flee. no
V. 132. gave, bcgack.
AND THE BEGGAR.
109
It was but in my own defence,
If he has gotten skaith ;
But I will make a recompence
Is better for you baith.
If ye will set me fair and free,
And do me no more dear,
An hundred pounds I will you give,
And much more odd silver,
That I have gather'd this many years,
Under this clouted cloak, i5o
And hid up wonder privately,
In bottom of my poke.
The young men to the council yeed.
And let the beggar gae ;
They wist full well he had no speed
From them to run away.
They thought they would the money take.
Come after what so may ;
And yet they would not take him back.
But in that place him slay. im)
By that good Robin would not know
That they had gotten coin,
It would content him [well] to show
That there they had him slain.
V. 153. yeen. .
110 noiuN HOOD
They said, False carel, soon have done,
And tell forth thv monev,
For the ill turn that thou hast done
It's but a simple plee.
And vet we will not have thee back,
Come after what so may, 170
If thou will do that which thou spak,
And make us present pay.
O then he loosed his clouted clock.
And spread it on the ground,
And thereon lay he many a poke.
Betwixt them and the wind.
He took a great bag from his hals.
It was near full of meal,
Two pecks in it at least there was,
And more, I wot full well, leo
Upon this ciOEik he set it down.
The mouth he opened wide,
To turn the same he made him bown.
The young men ready spy'd ;
In every hand he took a nook
Of that great leathren ' mail,'
And with a fling the meal he shook
Into their face all hail :
V. 171. spok. V. 177. l.alf. V. 183. bound. V. 186. bag.
.AND THE BEGGAR. Ill
AVherewith he blinded them so close,
A stime they could not see ; 190
And then in heart he did rejoice,
And clap'd his lusty tree.
He thought if he had done them wrong,
In mealing of their deaths,
For to strike off the meal again
With his pyke-staff he goes.
E'er any of them could red their een,
Or a glimmring might see,
like one of them a dozen had.
Well laid on with his tree. 200
The young men were right swift of foot.
And boldly bound away.
The beggar could them no more hit.
For all the haste he may.
What's all this haste? the beggar said,
May not you tarry still,
Untill your money be received ?
I'll pay you with good will.
The shaking of my pokes, 1 fear,
Hath blown into your een ; 210
But I have a good pyke-staff here
Can ripe them out full clean.
V. 1"4. rloatli. V. 206. thou.
112 UOBIN HOOD
The youug men answered never a word,
They were dum as a stane ;
In the thick wood the beggar fled,
E'er they riped their een :
And syne the night became so late,
To seek him was in vain :
But judge ye if they looked blate
When they cam home again. ceo
Good Robin speer'd how they had sped.
They answered him, Full ill.
That can not be, good Robin says.
Ye have been at the mill.
The mill it is a meat-rife part.
They may lick what they please.
Most like ye have been at the art.
Who would look at your ' claiths.'
They hang'd their heads, they drooped down,
A word they could not speak. s'^o
Robin said. Because I fell a-sound,
I think ye'U do the like.
Tell on the matter, less or more.
And tell me what and how
Ye have done with the bold beagrar
I sent you for right now.
V. 221. speed. V. 228. cloaths. ^
i
AND THE BEGGAR. 1 13
And when they told him to an end,
As i have said before,
How that the beggar did them blind,
What ' mister' presses more ? 240
And how in the thick woods he fled.
E'er they a stime could see ;
And how they scarcely could win home.
Their bones were baste so sore ;
Good Robin cry'd, Fy ! out! for shame!
We're sham'd for evermore.
Altho good Robin would full fain
Of his wrath revenged be, 250
He smil'd to see his merry young men
Had gotten a taste of the tree.
VOL. I.
IV.
ROBIN HOOD AND GUY OF GISBORNE,
is reprinted from the " Reliques of ancient English poetry,"
published by Dr. Percy, (Vol. I. p. 81.) who there gives it from
his " folio IMS." as " never before printed, and ' carrying' marks
of much greater antiquity than any of the common popular songs
on this subject."
As for Guy of Gisborne, the only further memorial which has
occured concerning him, is in an old satyrical piece by William
Dunbar, a celebrated Scotish poet, of the 15th century, on one
" Schir Thomas Nory," (JMS. Maitland, p. 3. INISS. More, LI.
5. 10.) where he is named along with our hero, Adam Bell, and
other worthies, it is conjectured, of a similar stamp, but whose
merits have not, less fortunately, come to the knovvlege of
posterity.
UOBIN HOOD, ETC. 115
" Was nevir weild Robeine under bewch.
Nor yitt Roger of Clekkinslewch,
So bauld a bairne as he ;
Gy of Gysburne, na Allane Bell,
Na Simones sones of Quhynsell,
Off thocht war nevir so she."
Gisborne is a mavket-town in the west riding of the county of
York, on the borders of Lancashire.
In the fourth edition of the publication above referred to, which
appeared in July 1795, it is acknowleged, that " Some liberties
were, by the editor, taken with this ballad, which, in this edition
hath been brought nearer to the folio MS." The new readings
have therefore been introduced into the present text.
Whan sliaws beene sheene, and shraddes full
And leaves both large and longe, [fayre,
Itt's merrye walkyng in the fayre forrest
To heare the small birdes songe.
The woodweele sang, and wold not cease,
Sitting upon the spraye.
See lowde, he wakened Robin Hood,
In the greenwood where he lay.
Now, by my faye, sayd jollye Robhi,
A sweaven I had this night ; lo
I dreamt me of tow wighty yemen.
That fast with me can fight.
Y, 1. "It should perhaps be swards : i. e. the surface of the
ground : viz. ' when the fields are in their beauty.' " Percy.
Rather, shrobbes (shmbs). The plural of sward was never used
by any writer whatever. For shaws the MS. has shales.
1 16 ROBIN HOOD
Methoudit thev did me beate and binde,
And tooke my bowe me froe ;
Iff I be Robin alive in this lande,
He be wroken on them towe.
Sweavens are swift, master, quoth John,
As the wind that blowes ore a hill ;
For iff itt be never so loude this night,
To-morrow it may be still. 20
" Buske yee, bowne yee, my merry men all,
And John shall goe with mee.
For He goe seeke yond wighty yeoman.
In greenwood where they bee."
Then they cast on theyr gownes of grene,
And tooke theyr bowes each one ;
And they away to the greene forr^st
A shooting forth are gone ;
Untill they came to the merry greenwood,
Where they had gladdest to bee, 30
There they were ware of a wight yeoman,
His body leaned to a tree.
A sword and a dagger he wore by his side.
Of manye a man the bane ;
And he was clad in his capuU hyde
Topp and tayll and mayne.
AND GUY OF GISBOHNE. 117
Stand you still, master, quoth Little John,
Under this tree so grene,
And I will go to yond wight yeoman,
To know what he doth meane. 40
" Ah ! John, by me thou settest noe store,
And that I farley finde :
How ofFt send I my men before,
And tarry ray selfe behinde ?
It is no cunning a knave to ken.
And a man but heare him speake ;
And it were not for bursting of my bowe,
John, I thy head wold breake."
As often wordes they breeden bale,
So they parted Robin and John : 5o
And John is gone to Barnesdale ;
The gates he knoweth eche one.
But when he came to Barnesdale,
Great heavinesse there he hadd,
For he found tow of his own fellowes,
Were slaine both in a slade.
And Scarlette he was flying a-foote
Fast over stocke and stone,
For the proud sherifFe with seven score men
Fast after him is gone. 60
118 ROBIN HOOD
.One shoote now I will shoote, quoth John,
With Christ his might and mayne ;
He make yond sheriffe that flyes soe fast,
To stopp he shall be fayne.
Then John bent up his long bende-bowe,
And fetteled him to shoote :
The bow was made of tender boughe,
And fell downe at his foote.
" Woe worth, woe worth thee, wicked wood,
That ever thou grew on a tree ! 70
For now this day thou art my bale,
My boote when thou shold bee."
His shoote it was but loosely shott,
Yet flewe not the arrowe in vaine,
For itt mett one of the sheriffes men,
Good William a Trent was slaine.
It had bene better of William a Trent
To have bene abed with sorrowe,
Than to be that day in the greenwood slade
To meet with Little Johns arrowe. 8.)
But as it is said, when men be mett
Fyve can doe more than three,
The sheriffe hath taken Little John,
And bound him fast to a tree.
t
AND GUY OF GISBORNE.
119
" Thou shalt be drawen by dale and downe,
And hanged hye on a hill."
But thou mayst fayle of thy purpose, quoth John ,
If it be Christ his will.
Lett us leave talking of Little John,
And thinke of Robin Hood, 90
How he is gone to the wight yeoman,
Where under the leaves he stood.
Good morrowe, good fellowe, sayd Robin so fayre,
Good morrowe, good fellow, quo' he :
Methinkes by this bowe thou beares in thy hande,
A good archere thou sholdst bee.
I am wilfulle of my waye, quo' the yeman,
And of my morning tyde.
lie lead thee through the wood, sayd Robin ;
Good fellow, lie be thy guide. joo
I seeke an outlawe, the straunger sayd,
Men call him Robin Hood ;
Rather lid meet with that proud outlawe
Than fortye pound soe good.
\. 94. Dr. Percy, by the marks he has bestowed on this line,
seems to consider it as the yeomans reply : but it seems rather a
repetition of Robins complimentary address.
120 RO£i:>' HOOD
" Now come with me, thou wighty yeman
And Robin thou soone shalt see :
But first let us some pastime find
Under the greenwood tree.
First let us some masterye make
Among the woods so even, no
We may chance to meet with Robin Hood
Here at some unsett steven."
They cutt them down two summer shroggs,
That grew both under a breere,
And sett them threescore rood in twaine,
To shoote the piickes y-fere.
Leade on, good fellowe, quoth Robin Hood,
Leade on, I do bidd thee.
Nay, by my faith, good fellowe, hee sayd,
My leader thou shalt bee. ico
The first time Robin shot at the pricke,
He mist but an inch it fro :
The yeoman he was an archer good.
But he cold never shoote soe.
The second shoote had the wightye yeman,
He shot within the garland :
But Robin he shott far better than hee,
For he clave the good pricke-wande.
AND GUY OF GISBORNE. 121
A blessing upon thy heart, he sayd ;
Good fellowe, thy shooting is goode ; iso
For an thy hart be as good as thy hand,
Thou wert better than Robin Hoode.
Now tell me thy name, good fellowe, sayd he.
Under the leaves of lyne.
Nay, by my faith, quoth bold Robin,
Till thou have told me thine.
I dwell by dale and downe, quoth hee,
And Robin to take Ime sworne ;
And when I am called by my right name
I am Guy of good Gisborne. ho
My dwelling is in this wood, sayes Robin,
By thee I set right nought :
I am Robin Hood of Barnesdale,
Whom thou so long hast sought.
He that had neyther beene kythe nor kin,
Might have seen a full fayre fight,
To see how together these yeomen went
With blades both browne and bright.
To see how these yeomen together they fought
Two howres of a summers day : iso
Yett neither Robin Hood nor sir Guy
Them fettled to flye away.
122 ROBIN HOOD
Robin was reachles on a roote
And stumbled at that tyde ;
And Guy was quicke and nimble withal),
And hitt him ore the left syde.
Ah, deere ladye, sayd Robin Hood tho,
That art both mother and may,
I think it was never mans destinye
To dye before his day. iSo
Robin thought on our ladye deere,
And soone leapt up againe,
And strait he came with a[n] awkwarde stroke
And he sir Guy hath slayne.
He took sir Guys head by the hayre,
And sticked itt upon his bowes end :
" Thou hast beene a traytor all thy life.
Which thing must have an end."
V. 158. both.] This in the three former editions of the
Reliques is, improperly, altered to but.
Y. 163, awkwarde.] So, according to Percy, reads his MS.
He has altered it to ' backward.'
Y. 164. The title of Sir, Dr. Percy says, was not formerly
peculiar to knights ; it was given to priests, and sometimes to
very inferior personages. If the text did not seem to be in favour
of the latter part of this assertion, one might reasonably question
its truth. Another instance, at least, it is believed, admitting
this to be one, which is by no means certain, cannot be produced.
AND GUY OF GISBORNE. 123
Robin pulled forth an Irish knife, ]
And nicked sir Guy in the face, 170
That he was never on woman born
Cold tell whose head it was.
Sayes, Lye there, lye there, now sir Guye,
And with me be not wrothe ;
Iff thou have had the worst strokes at my hand,
Thou shalt have the better clothe.
Robin did off his gown of greene,
And on sir Guy did it throwe,
And he put on that capuU hyde,
That cladd him topp to toe. iso
" The bowe, the arrowes, and little home,
Now with me I will beare ;
For I will away to Barnesdale,
To see how my men doe fare."
Robin Hood sett Guyes home to his mouth,
And a loude blast in it did blow :
That beheard the sherifFe of Nottingham,
As he leaned under a lowe.
Hearken, hearken, sayd the sheriffe,
I heare nowe tydings good, 190
For yonder I heare sir Guyes home blow,
And he hath slaine Robin Hoode.
124
ROBIN HOOD
Yonder I heare sir Guyes home blowe,
Itt blowes soe well in tyde,
And yonder comes that wightye yeoman,
Cladd in his capuU hyde.
Come hyther, come hyther, thou good sir Guy,
Aske what thou wilt of mee.
O I will none of thy gold, sayd Robin,
Nor I will none of thy fee : 200
But now I have slaine the master, he sayes.
Let me goe strike the knave ;
For this is all the meede I aske ;
Nor no other will I have.
Thou art a madman, sayd the sheriffe.
Thou sholdst have had a knightes fee :
But seeing thy asking hath beene soe bad.
Well granted it shal bee.
When Little John heard his master speake,
Well knewe he it was his steven : 210
Now shall I be looset, quoth Little John,
With Christ his might in heaven.
Fast Robin hee hyed him to Little John,
He thought to loose him belive ;
The sherifFe and all his companye
Fast after him did drive.
AND GUY OF GISBORNE. 125
Stand abacke, stand abacke, sayd Robin ;
Why draw you mee so neere ?
It was never the use in our countrye,
Ones shrift another shold heere. £20
But Robin pulled forth an Irish knife,
And losed John hand and foote,
And gave him sir Guyes bow into his hand,
And bade it be his boote.
Then John he took Guyes bow in his hand,
His boltes and arrowes eche one :
When the sherifFe saw Little John bend his bow,
He fettled him to be gone.
Towards his house in Nottingham towne,
He fled full fast away ; 230
And soe did all the companye :
Not one behind wold stay.
But he cold neither runne soe fast.
Nor away soe fast cold ryde.
But Little John with an arrowe soe broad.
He shott him into the ' backe'-syde.
V. 236. Sic PC. quere the MS.
/^:S.
V.
A TRUE TALE OF ROBIN HOOU :
OR,
A briefe touch of the life aud death of that re-
nowned outlaw Robert earl of Huntingdon, vulgarly
called Robin Hood, who lived and dyed in A. D.
1198.* being the 9th year of king Richard the first,
commonly called Richard Coeur de Lyon.
Carefully collected out of the truest writers of our
English Chronicles : and published for the satisfaction
of those who desire truth from falshood.
BY MARTIN PARKER.
* An absurd mistake, scarcely worth notice in this place, and
which the reader will have it in his own power to correct.
ROBIX HOOD. 127
This poem, given from an edition in black letter, printed for
I. Clarke, W. Thackeray, and T. Passinger, 1686, remaining in
the curious library left by Anthony a Wood, appears to have
been first entered on the hall-book of the stationers company, the
29th of February, 1631.
Martin Parker was a great writer of ballads, several of which,
with is initials subjoined, are still extant in the Pepysian and
other collections. (See " Ancient songs," 1829, ii. p. 263.)
Dr. Percy mentions a little miscellany intitled, " The garland
of withered roses, by Martin Parker, 1656." The editor has,
likewise, seen " The nightingale warbling forth her own disaster,
or the rape of Philomela : newly written in English verse by
Martin Parker, 1632 ;" and, on the 24th. of November, 1640,
Mr. Oulton enters, at Stationers hall, " a book called The true
story of Guy earle of Warwicke, in prose, by Martyn Parker."
At the end of this poem the author adds " The epitaph which
the prioress of the monastry of Kirkslay in Yorkshire set over
Robin Hood, which," he says, " (as is before mentioned) was
to be lead within these hundred years, though in old broken
English, much to the same sence and meaning." He gives it
thus :
'' Decembris quarto die, 11C8. anno regni Richardi primi 9.
" Robert earl of Huntington
" Lies under this little stone,
" No archer was like him so good ;
" His wildness named him Robin Hood ;
" Full thirteen years, and something more,
' ' Tiiesc northern parts he vexed sore ;
" Such outlaws as he and his men
" May England never know again."
" Some other superstitious words," he adds, " were in, which
I," says lie, " thought fit to leave out." Now, under this precise
128 A TRUE TALE
gentlemans favour, one would be glad to know what these same
" superstitious words" were ; there not being anything of the
kind in Dr. Gales copy, which seems to be the original, and
which is shorter by two lines than the above. Thirteen should
be thirty.
Both gentlemen, and yeomen bold,
Or whatsoever you are,
To have a stately story told
Attention now prepare :
It is a tale of Robin Hood,
Which i to you will tell ;
Which, being rightly understood,
I know will please you well.
This Robin (so much talked on)
Was once a man of fame, lo
Instiled earl of Huntington,
Lord Robin Hood by name.
In courtship and magnificence
His carriage won him praise.
And greater favour with his prince
Than any in ' those' days.
In bounteous liberality
He too much did excell,
And loved men of quality
More than exceeding well. 20
V. 16. our.
OF ROBIN HOOD. 129
His great revenues all he sold
For wine and costly chear ;
He kept three hundred bow-men bold,
He shooting lov'd so dear.
No archer living in his time
With him might well compare ;
He practis'd all his youthful prime
That exercise most rare.
At last, by his profuse expence,
He had consum'd his wealth ; 30
And, being outlaw'd by his prince,
In woods he liv'd by stealth. '
The abbot of Saint Maries rich,
To whom he mony ought,
His hatred to the earl was such
That he his downfal wrought.
So being outlaw'd (as 'tis told)
He with a crew went forth
Of lusty cutters stout and bold,
And robbed in the North. 40
Among the rest one Little John,
A yeoman bold and free,
Who could (if it stood him upon)
With ease encounter three.
VOL. I. K
130 A TRUE TALE
One hundred men in all he got,
With whom (the story says)
Three hundred common men durst not
Hold combat any waies.
They Yorkshire woods frequented much,
And Lancashire also, -so
Wherein their practises were such
That they wrought muckle woe.
None rich durst travel to and fro,
Though ne'r so strongly arm'd,
But by these thieves (so strong in show)
They still were rob'd and harm'd.
His chiefest spight to th' clergy was,
That liv'd in monstrous pride :
No one of them he would let pass
Along the highway side, C'^
But first they must to dinner go,
And afterwards to shrift :
Full many a one he served so,
Thus while he liv'd by theft.
No monks nor fryers he would let go,
Without paying their fees :
If they thought much to be used so,
Their stones he made them lese.
OF ROBIN HOOD. 131
For such as they the country fill'd
With bastards in those days : 70
Which to prevent, these sparks did geld
All that came in their ways. *
But Robin Hood so gentle was,
And bore so brave a mind,
If any in distress did pass.
To them he was so kind,
That he would give and lend to them,
To help them in their need ;
This made all poor men pray for him,
And wish he well might speed. eo
The widow and the fatherless
He would send means unto ;
And those whom famine did oppress
Found him a friendly foe.
* There is no authority for imputing this execrable practice
to our hero or his companions, in any one single instance. If,
however, the lex talionis were at all justifiable, they certainly
had sufficient provocation to exercise it — not, indeed, upon the
clergy, in particular, but upon the king, his ministers, judges,
and nobles ; " The ancient punishment for killing the king's
deer," says Dr. Percy, " was loss of eyes and castration : a
punishment far worse than death !"
132 A TRUE TALE
Nor would he do a woman wrong,
But see her safe convey'd :
He would protect with power strong
All those who crav'd his aid.
The abbot of Saint Maries then,
Who him undid before, 90
AVas riding with two hundred men.
And gold and silver store :
But Robin Hood upon him set,
With his couragious sparks,
And all the coyn perforce did get.
Which was twelve thousand marks.
He bound the abbot to a tree,
And would not let him pass,
Before that to his men and he
His lordship had said mass : ico
Which being done, upon his horse
He set him fast astride.
And with his face towards his a —
He forced him to ride.
His men were forced to be his guide,
For he rode backward home :
The abbot, being thus villify'd,
Did sorely chafe and fume.
OF ROBIN HOOD. 133
Thus Robin Hood did vindicate
His former wrongs receiv'd : no
For 'twas this covetous prelate
That him of land bereav'd.
The abbot he rode to the king^
With all the haste he could ;
And to his grace he every thing
Exactly did unfold :
And said that if no course were ta'n,
By force or stratagem,
To take this rebel and his train,
No man should pass for them. i?o
The king protested by and by
Unto the abbot then,
That Robin Hood with speed should dye,
With all his merry men.
But e're the king did any send,
He did another feat.
Which did his grace much more offend,
The fact indeed was gi-eat :
to'
For in a short time after that
The kings receivers went I'^o
Towards London with the coyn they got,
For's highness northern rent :
134 A TRUE TALE
Bold Robin Hood iind Little John,
With the rest of their train,
Not dreading law, set them upon,
And did their gold obtain.
The king much moved at the same.
And the abbots talk also,
In this his anger did proclaim,
And sent word to and fro, uo
That whosoever alive or dead |
Could bring bold Robin Hood,
Should have one thousand marks well paid
In gold and silver good.
This promise of the king did make
Full many yeomen bold
Attempt stout Robin Hood to take
With all the force they could.
But still when any came to him
Within the gay green wood, iso
He entertainment gave to them
With venison fat and good ;
And shew'd to them such martial sport
With his long bow and arrow.
That they of him did give report.
How that it was great sorow
OF ROBIN HOOD. 135
That such a worthy man as he
Should thus be put to shift,
Being a late lord of high degree,
Of living quite bereft. jCo
The king to take him more and more
Sent men of mickle might ;
But he and his still beat them sore,
And conquered them in fight :
Or else with love and courtesie,
To him he won their hearts.
Thus still he liv'd by robbery
Throughout the northern parts ;
And all the country stood in dread
Of Robin Hood and's men : 170
For stouter lads ne'r liv'd by bread
In those days, nor since then.
The abbot, which before i nam'd,
Sought all the means he could
To have by force this rebel ta'n,
And his adherents bold.
Therefore he arm'd five hundred men,
With furniture compleat ;
But the outlaws slew half of them,
And made the rest retreat, iso
136 A TRUE TALF.
The long bow and the arrow keen
They were so us'd unto
That still he kept the forrest green
In spight o* th' proudest foe.
Twelve of the abbots men he took,
Who came to have him ta'n,
When all the rest the field forsook,
These he did entertain
With banqueting and merriment.
And, having us'd them well, 190
He to their lord them safely sent,
And will'd them him to tell,
That if he would be pleas'd at last
To beg of our good king,
That he might pardon what was past,
And him to favour bring,
He would surrender back again
The mony which before
Was taken by him ' and his' men
From him and many more. eoo
Poor men might safely pass by him.
And some that way would chuse,
For well they knew that to help them
He evermore did use.
OF ROBIN HOOD. 137
But where he knew a miser rich
That did the poor oppress,
To feel his coyn his hands did itch,
He'd have it, more or less :
And sometimes, when the high-way fail'd,
Then he his courage rouzes, 210
He and his men have oft assaild
Such rich men in their houses :
So that, through dread of Robin then,
And his adventurous crew,
The misers kept great store of men.
Which else maintain'd but few.
King Richard, of that name the first,
Sirnamed Coeur de Lyon,
Went to defeat the Pagans curst.
Who kept the coasts of Sion. 220
The bishop of Ely, chancellor.
Was left a vice-roy here.
Who, like a potent emperor.
Did proudly domineer.
Our chronicles of him report.
That commonly he rode
With a thousand horse from court to court,
Where he would make abode.
138 A TRUE TALE
He, riding down towards the north,
With his aforesaid train, 230
Robin and his men did issue forth,
Them all to entertain ;
And with the gallant gray-goose wing
They shew'd to them such play
That made their horses kick and fling,
And down their riders lay.
Full glad and fain the bishop was,
For all his thousand men.
To seek what means he could to pass
From out of Robins ken. c4o
Two hundred of his men were kill'd.
And fourscore horses good.
Thirty, who did as captives yield.
Were carried to the green wood ;
Which afterwards were ransomed,
For twenty marks a man :
The rest set spurs to horse and fled
To th' town of Warrington.
The bishop, sore inraged, then
Did, in king Richards name, cso
Muster up a power of northern men,
These outlaws bold to tame.
OF ROBIN HOOD. 139
But Robin with his courtesie
So woa the meaner sort,
That they were loath on him to try
What rigour did import.
So that bold Robin and his train
Did live unhurt of them,
Until king Richard came again
From fair Jerusalem : 260
And then the talk of Robin Hood
His royal ears did fill ;
His grace admir'd that i' th' green wood
He was continued still.
So that the country far and near
Did give him great applause ;
For none of them need stand in fear,
But such as broke the laws.
He wished well unto the king,
And prayed still for his health, c~o
And never practis'd any thing
Against the common-wealth.
Only, because he was undone
By th' cruel clergy then.
All means that he could think upon
To vex such kind of men,
140
A TRUE TAI.F,
He enterpriz'd with hateful spleen ;
For which he was to blame,
For fault of some to wreak his teen
On all that by him came.
With wealth that he by roguery got
Eight alms-houses he built,
Thinking thereby to purge the blot
Of blood which he had spilt.
Such was their blind devotion then,
Depending on their works ;
Which if 'twere true, we Christian men
Inferiour were to Turks.
2B0
But, to speak true of Robin Hood,
And wrong him not a jot,
He never would shed any mans blood
That him invaded not.
2yo
Nor would he injure husbandmen,
That toil at cart and plough ;
For well he knew wer't not for them
To live no man knew how.
The king in person, with some lords,
To Nottingham did ride,
To try what strength and skill affords
To crush this outlaws pride.
300
OF ROBIN HOOD. 141
And, as he once before had done,
He did again proclaim,
That whosoever would take upon
To bring to Nottingham,
Or any place within the land,
Rebellious Robin Hood,
Should be preferr'd in place to stand
With those of noble blood.
When Robin Hood heard of the same,
Within a little space, 310
Into the town of Nottingham
A letter to his grace
He shot upon an arrow head,
One evening cunningly ;
Which was brought to the king, and read
Before his majesty.
The tenour of this letter was
That Robin would submit,
And be true liegeman to his grace
In any thing that's fit, aao
So that his highness would forgive
Him and his merry men all ;
If not, he must i' th' green wood live,
And take what chance did fall.
142 A TRUE TALE
The king would feign have pardoned him,
But that some lords did say,
This president will much condemn
Your grace another day.
While that the king and lords did stay
Debating on this thing, 3:«o
Some of these outlaws fled away
Unto the Scottish king.
For they suppos'd, if he were ta'n
Or to the king did yield,
By th' commons all the rest of 's train
Full quickly would be quell'd.
Of more than full an hundred men,
But forty tarried still,
Who were resolv'd to stick to him
Let Fortune work her will. 340
If none had fled, ail for his sake
Had got their pardon free ;
The king to favour meant to take
His merry men and he.
But e*re the pardon to him came
This famous archer dy'd :
His death and manner of the same
rie presently describe.
OF ROBIN HOOD. 143
For, being vext to think upon
His followers revolt, 350
In melancholy passion
He did recount his fault.
Perfidious traytors ! said he then,
In all your dangers past
Have i you guarded as my men,
To leave me thus at last !
This sad perplexity did cause
A feaver, as some say,
Which him unto confusion draws,
Though by a stranger way. i6o
This deadly danger to prevent,
He hie'd him with all speed
Unto a nunnery, with intent
For his healths-sake to bleed.
A faithless fryer did pretend
In love to let him blood.
But he by falshood wrought the end
Of famous Robin Hood.
The fryer, as some say, did this
To vindicate the wrong s-o
Which to the clergy he and his
Had done by power strong.
144
A TRUE TALE
Thus dyed he by treachery,
That could not die by force :
Had he liv'd longer, certainly
King Richard, in remorse.
Had unto favour him receiv'd,
' His' brave men elevated :
'Tis pitty he was of life bereav'd
By one which he so hated. sso
A treacherous leach this fryer was,
To let him bleed to death ;
And Robin was, methinks, an ass
To trust him with his breath.
His corps the prioress of the place,
The next day that he dy'd,
Caused to be buried, in mean case,
Close by the high-way side.
And over him she caused a stone
To be fixt on the ground, 390
An epitaph was set thereon,
Wherein his name was found ;
The date o' th' year and day also,
She made to be set there :
That all, who by the way did go,
Might see it plain appear.
OF ROBIN IIOOI). 145
That such a man as Robin Hood
Was buried in that place ;
And how he lived in the green wood
And robbed for a space. 400
It seems that though the clergy he
Had put to mickle woe.
He should not quite forgotten be,
Although he was their foe.
This woman, though she did him hate,
Yet loved his memory ;
And thought it wondrous pitty that
His fame should with him dye.
This epitaph, as records tell,
Within this hundred years, 410
By many was discerned well,
But time all things out-wears.
His followers, when he was dead,
Were some repriev'd to grace ;
The rest to foreign countries fled,
And left their native place.
Although his funeral was but mean.
This woman had in mind,
Least his fame slioukl be buried clean
From thooc thut came behiu'i. 4->>
VOL. 1. L
14G A TRUr TALE
For certainly, before nor since,
No man e're understood,
Under the reign of any prince,
Of one like Robin Hood.
Full thirteen years, and something more,
These outlaws lived thus ;
Feared of the rich, loved of the poor :
A thing most marvellous.
A thing impossible to us
This story seems to be ; -im
None dares be novjf so venturous,
But times are chang'd we see.
We that live in these later days
Of civil government.
If need be, have an hundred vi'ays
Such outlaws to prevent.
In those days men more barbarous were,
And lived less m awe ;
Now (god be thanked) people fear
More to offend the law. no
No waring guns were then in use,
They dreamt of no sucli thing ;
Our Englishmen in fight did use
The gallant gray-goose wing ;
(il ROBIN HOOD.
147
111 which activity these men,
Through practise, were so good,
That in those days none equal'd them,
Especially Robin Hood,
So that, it seems, keeping in caves.
In woods and forests thick, 450
They'd beat a multitude with staves,
Their arrows did so prick :
And none durst neer unto them come,
Unless in courtesie ;
All such he bravely would send home
With mirth and jollity :
Which courtesie won him such love,
As i before have told,
'Twas the chief cause that he did prove
More prosperous than he could. 460
Let us be thankful for these times
Of plenty, truth and peace ;
And leave our great and horrid crimes,
Least they cause this to cease.
I know there's many feigned tales
Of Robin Hood and 's crew ;
But chronicles, which seldome fails,
Reports this to be true.
\ . 460. i. c. lluiii he could oi/ieruisi' have htcii.
I
I4S A TRUE TALI. OF lUlKlN llOOi).
Let none then think this is a Ive,
For, if 'twere put to th' worst.
They may the truth of all descry
r th' reign of Richard the first.
If any reader please to try,
As i direction show.
The truth of this brave history,
He'l find it true I know.
4*0
And i shall think my labour well
Bestow'd to purpose good,
When't shall be said that i did tell
• True tales of Robin Hood.
4H0
TIJK KN 1) Ol' V(U,r.M£ I.
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C. \V hiltiii-jliam, 'I'ouk- Coiiil, Clianci'iy liiiu
2 h OOS^"^
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JAN 1 1990
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